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And when they enter their teenage years, Irish children are more likely to be talking about social networks like Bebo than last night’s Coronation Street.

The latest State of the Net survey from online consultancy Amas in association with the Irish Internet Association found that 96pc of Irish 11- and 12-year olds own a mobile phone.

The survey also found that there are approximately 700,000 Irish registered users of social networking site Bebo.com.

The typical Irish teenager spends roughly two hours a day online and 23pc of nine- to 16-year olds have received unwanted sexual comments on the internet.

Author of the report Aileen O’Toole said that young people’s online behaviour should cause businesses and governments to rethink their marketing and communications strategies.

“Top-down communications from government bodies, businesses and ‘officialdom’ doesn’t work in seeking to influence or communicate with a young audience,” she stated.

“Irish teens and ‘tweenies’ are young fickle and online-savvy. Their online behaviour has far-reaching parental and social implications but it is also fundamentally reshaping the world of marketing and communications.”

The State of the Net report found that social networking, mobile marketing, user-generated content, podcasting and instant messaging are the media habits of young people today and that for advertisers and media attempting to attract their eyeballs, viral marketing techniques ensure widespread adoption.

“Online social networks are not only for kids and are being used increasingly by businesses,” said Amas director Fiacra Ó Marcaigh.

“Like many internet technologies before them they are set to make the jump from personal to professional tools,” Ó Marcaigh added.

Other findings in the State of the Net report included some good news about broadband in Ireland for a change. It identified a quantum leap in broadband uptake this year with the number of subscribers reaching 410,000 by mid-September.

A total of 35pc of the Irish population describe themselves as either advanced or expert internet users, in line with the EU average. Germany scored highest at 46pc while Portugal scored lowest at 15pc.

In terms of mobile, Ireland now has 103pc population penetration but this is still lower of some of our European neighbours such as Luxembourg and Sweden.

In terms of online shopping, Irish consumers complain more about bad online shopping experiences than the majority of our European neighbours. In 2005, Ireland ranked third after Sweden and France in the number of online cases being logged by the European Consumer Centre Network — two thirds more than the UK.

In terms of e-government interaction with the citizen, Ireland demonstrated steady, if not spectacular, progress. Some 68pc of Irish citizens said they found it easy to use e-government services, an annual 6pc increase and the third-highest amongst 21 countries.

However, in terms of e-government leadership an Accenture study found that, at 46pc, Ireland is a couple of points below the average and is considered a “follower”. The US and Canada are at the top of the charts amongst global e-government trendsetters.

By John Kennedy