The first newspaper published in Belfast [and in Ulster] and the oldest surviving 
newspaper in Ireland, was established over 250 years ago by Francis Joy. 

Originally titled The Belfast Newsletter and General Advertiser, it was first issued in single sheet form at an annual subscription of four shillings and four pence [1d/issue]. 

The murder of a northern loyalist so enraged the commander-in-chief of the army in Ulster that he insisted on the editor, George Gordon, publishing what amounted to a general condemnation of the citizens of Belfast. The citizens were furious, many withdrawing their subscriptions. An apology from Gordon, in which he maintained that he had been compelled to insert the commander-in-chief's strictures [...], only succeeded in infuriating the commander-in-chief as well. Gordon found it prudent to depart for a while from the city, and later, to fly the country" (Inglis, The Freedom of the Press in Ireland: 1784-1841).