[7] Following the creation of the Irish Free State, the Sunday Independent followed its daily counterpart's political line by supporting Cumann na nGaedheal and its successor Fine Gael.

Legge's time at the paper was notable for the Sunday Independent in 1948 leaking the news that the Irish government were going to leave the British Commonwealth by repealing the External Relations Act.

[9] In the 1970s, under the editorship of Conor O'Brien, the Sunday Independent became known for a series of investigations by journalist Joe MacAnthony into the activities of the Irish Sweepstakes.

In terms of news, while the newspaper maintains a broadsheet outlook, it has come in for much criticism lately due to its increasing emphasis on lifestyle features in the main section.

[21] A 1997 article in Magill magazine about the newspaper stated, "Its critics have characterised it as nasty and narcissistic, its supporters as lively and libidinous, a tornado of fresh air in a stale and shrinking industry".

[citation needed] Other politicians to have written columns for the newspaper include Fine Gael's former Minister for Justice Alan Shatter and former Labour Party TD Michael McNamara.

[citation needed] Articles on transgender topics feature, often written by Eilis O'Hanlon, Mark Tighe, and Tommy Conlon.

[25] In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Sunday Independent was reproachful toward SDLP politician John Hume, whom the newspaper accused of being insufficiently attentive to the needs of the Ulster Unionists.

[citation needed] Issues of interest have included big government, the size of the public sector, terrorism, and the Republic's regime of stamp duty on newly acquired property.

[22][28] The Sunday Independent also took a negative tone towards rival media outlets RTÉ and The Irish Times, objecting to perceived left-wing and pro-nationalist bias in these organisations.

[6] The newspaper has been the source of many controversies over the years: In 1993, the Sunday Independent advertised what was claimed as a "world exclusive" interview with Bishop Eamon Casey after he had fled Ireland following the revelation of his affair with Annie Murphy.

Keane gave the story as an exclusive to rival newspaper The Sunday Times, while still employed by Independent News and Media.

Mary Ellen Synon, a columnist with the newspaper, caused much controversy when she attacked the Paralympic Games as being "perverse", in an article of 22 October 2000.

Initially, the editor, Aengus Fanning, defended the columnist, however he eventually issued an apology, after the then health boards threatened to withdraw advertising from the newspaper.

On 22 October 2005, the controversial Irish politician Liam Lawlor was killed in a road traffic accident in the Khimki district of Moscow during the early hours of Saturday morning.

[45] Later that afternoon, the editor of the Sunday Independent, Aengus Fanning, also apologised to the Lawlor family and said that he "took full responsibility" for the inaccurate report.

Paton Walsh said that "an editor" in the Sunday Independent had contacted him on the Saturday seeking help to confirm reports that Mr Lawlor had died.

Paton Walsh said that he had spoken with an official police spokesperson and relayed only the contents of three conversations with this same person to their news desk, saying that he had stressed that it was "only a possibility the girl was a prostitute".

[51] The Sunday Independent sparked another furore in March 2007 when the newspaper featured a front-page report of the death in childbirth of Garda Sergeant Tania Corcoran.

[52] A headline noted that Sgt Corcoran was the wife of the ERU Garda who had fired a fatal shot in the Abbeylara siege, incensing friends and relatives of the couple.

[54] He was shot fourteen times as he sat eating a meal at his Belfast home with his three children and wife, who was wounded in the attack.

Shane Ross, business editor and columnist, in particular has repeatedly praised the performance of Independent News and Media and its largest shareholder Tony O'Reilly and refrained from commenting on the subsequent collapse in the INM share-price and debt restructuring.

In the 2001 battle for control of Eircom with then-largest shareholder Tony O'Reilly, the Sunday Independent wrote of the inevitability of the sale to O'Brien, writing "The Employee Share Option Trust (ESOT) has made its position clear: better dead than Denis.

"[61] In a 2002 article headlined as "tough questions for the INM board", Tony O'Reilly was referred to as the "noble Knight" by Shane Ross, who reminded shareholders of historic share-price performance and "good dividend" while referring to the "well-publicised woes of the Irish Times" and refraining from comment on the €400 million spent on The Belfast Telegraph.

Tony O'Reilly has exploited an enviable knack of targeting the right geographical zones with an uncanny anticipation of future trends."

Ross also described the critics as "human stooges" and lauded the share price under O'Reilly, and looked forward to a "bright future" "Shareholders in Independent Newspapers have never been better off.

[65] "Whatever the source of the obvious personal resentment which the man from Malta feels for Sir Anthony O'Reilly, this weekend let us show him some gratitude.