The inaugural edition of the Irish Press is released on September 5, 1931. Its popularity and repute are expanding. Douglas Gageby, Tim Pat Coogan, Vincent Browne, Con Houlihan, and Geraldine Kennedy were among those who rose through its ranks. The daily newspaper switched from broadsheet to tabloid size in 1988. Its first editor was Michael O'Hehir who had been chief reporter at the Dublin Evening Mail. He also edited another paper called The Star (Dublin). O'Hehir died in an air raid on Dublin in April 1941. His deputy, William J. Fallon, continued as editor until June 1945 when he was replaced by John Dorney. In 1951, Dorney left to become managing director of The Belfast News-Letter and Hugh McIlvanney took over as editor. In 1955, McIlvanney bought the newspaper but he died a year later after suffering a heart attack while out walking his dog. His assistant, Robert Wylie, became editor. In 1959, Wylie was promoted to news editor of The Observer and The Sunday Times and he asked McIlvanney's son, David, to take over as editor. David McIlvanney died in 1963 at the age of 36 after falling off a ladder while working on The Irish Times. In 1964, James Curran, then a young reporter with the paper, took over as editor.