The Sun's Irish editor, Paul Clarkson, has explained a little more about why he suddenly decided to drop Page 3.
He said during a discussion on RTE radio this morning, in which I took part, that he had listened to the views of The Sun's Irish readers.
His radio interview immediately followed a vox pop in which some interviewees, who are Sun readers, said they were upset about the disappearance of topless models.
The RTE Morning Ireland host, Gavin Jennings, pointed out that there had not been a campaign in Ireland similar to the one in Britain. So, he asked Clarkson again, why do it?
Clarkson repeated that he had listened to readers and talked again about there being "cultural differences" between Ireland and Britain.
I then asked in what way readers in the island's six northern counties - where The Sun will continue to run Page 3 - were culturally different?
He said, in effect, that the people in Northern Ireland were more attuned to British sensibilities. This may come as shock to the nationalist population but - in fairness - few of them buy The Sun anyway.
Significantly, Clarkson was honest enough to admit that his decision was commercial. It was about the need to retain sales and the possibility of attracting new buyers.
Whatever the reason, it has certainly put the London-based editor, David Dinsmore, under renewed pressure from anti-Page campaigners.
A statement on the No More Page 3 website thanked Clarkson for taking "a huge step in the right direction" by "taking the lead in the dismantling of a sexist institution." It added:
"We are hoping that the UK Sun will follow suit and ultimately hope for an end to all objectifying images and a truly equal representation of women within the British press.
We look forward to the day when women are represented with respect and are featured in newspapers for the interesting things they say, think and do, in the same way as men are."
Finally, with the release at midday of the latest ABC-audited circulation figures, it is noticeable that The Sun's Irish edition sold more copies (64,450) in July than it did in June (63,743).
So there is no indication that there was any especial sales pressure on Clarkson to stop running Page 3.
