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The Irish edition of The Times newspaper is making the majority of its staff redundant.

The Times Ireland launched in September 2015 as a digital-only service before adding a print edition in 2017.

It employed about 20 staff in Dublin and all but three of them are to lose their jobs.

The remaining staff will work for the Times website and the print edition will cease publication at the end of June.

The Times owner, News Corp, said it would resume selling its international edition in Ireland.

The Irish edition of the Sunday Times is unaffected by the move.

The latest figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) show that in April 2019 The Times had a circulation of 3,363 in the Republic of Ireland, down from 7,018 a year earlier.

The 52% year-on-year sales fall was by far the largest percentage drop of national papers being sold in Ireland.

By comparison, the Sunday Times had a circulation of 69,350 in April, a 6% year-on-year fall.

Seamus Dooley, the NUJ Irish secretary, said: "The company does not recognise unions in Ireland but we have been contacted by NUJ members who work for the title and they are shocked by the redundancy terms being imposed.

"The Times Ireland has been responsible for groundbreaking journalism and the miserly package shows no regard for the pioneering work carried out by so many fine journalists."

A spokeswoman for The Times Ireland Edition said: "We have begun a consultation process with staff at The Times Ireland Edition.

"We are proposing a return to selling the international edition in print but no final decisions have been made and The Sunday Times in Ireland is unaffected.

"Our fast-growing international digital edition, which is now sold in more than 150 countries, will be the ongoing focus of our Irish news operation."