The People's Press was first published in April 1931 and was based in Lifford, the county town of Donegal.

Townsend and the Senator John MacLoughlin in 1932 for the specific purpose of taking over The Sligo Champion and The People's Press, established earlier that year in Lifford, Donegal and later renamed The Donegal People's Press.

[3] In 1963 the paper adopted its shorter name and is now almost entirely integrated with the long established Donegal Democrat.

The Democrat's base was traditionally in the south, but has expanded to become the only paper to be published across the entire county with its main Thursday broadsheet title.

In 2014, Iconic Newspapers acquired Johnson Press' titles in the Republic of Ireland.