Ireland’s 250,000th dot-IE address has been registered

16 Aug 2018

Image: StockPhotosLV/Shutterstock

The Wicklow Street Clinic brings the dot-IE website number to 250,000.

There are now more than a quarter of a million websites registered to the dot-IE domain on the internet, according to the IE Domain Registry (IEDR), which manages the domain.

The registry identified Dublin-based beauty salon The Wicklow Street Clinic as the 250,000th registered dot-IE domain.

‘Customers value ease and convenience and, in order to survive, SMEs need to respond to competition from international websites’
– DAVID CURTIN

The recent IEDR Domain Profile Report for the first half of 2018 demonstrated the best ever half-year period for the registration of dot-IE domains, with 154 new domains registered every day.

Ahoy-IE there!

New domain registrations grew by 39pc year on year to 28,126 in the first half of 2018.

Almost two-thirds (62.5pc) of the domains were registered by businesses, including corporate bodies and sole traders.

The IEDR attributed the surge in numbers to its new liberalisation policy that has streamlined the process of registering a dot-IE domain.

In recent weeks, IEDR CEO David Curtin said the change was timely as businesses are moving away from generic, anonymous email addresses, such as Eircom.net or Gmail.com.

It followed a period of intense engagement with stakeholders, and the culmination of a phase of major policy changes, which has opened up the dot-IE namespace significantly, allowing Irish citizens, businesses and associations to register for a wide range of dot-IE domain names without needing to prove a claim to the name.

For example, local communities, clubs and societies can register for a dot-IE address that can include their townland, county or other geographic names.

Curtin said that it is also about being pragmatic about the realities of online commerce.

“Customers value ease and convenience and, in order to survive, SMEs need to respond to competition from international websites,” he explained.

“Our research shows that 69pc of consumers find it frustrating or extremely frustrating if a company does not have a website.

“In our experience, many business owners need help as they start to plan and prioritise what is required to digitise the sales process. We work closely with SMEs through the Optimise Programme and to date have assisted over 130 small and micro-business owners to enhance their website capabilities and grow online sales,” Curtin added.

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com