It's hip, it's happening, and by gum, it merits its own Picks. You guessed it, it's Ireland -- and there's more to it than the blinding glare of greenness emitted by Bord Failte. You're very welcome to the first Irish Picks, featuring business, government and leisure sites guaranteed to leave you saying, "Hmm. That's very interesting. I didn't know that!"

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the news, here comes another national election -- Irish, this time, coming at you June 6. Can John Bruton's government really raise take-home pay by 20 per cent over the next five years? Will the television deflector uproar sway voters as much as expected in areas like Tramore? With regular news updates throughout the day, the Yahoo! Election Centre (excuse the blatant self-promotion) isn't standing still for a moment -- and neither should you, unless you want to be plastered with an election poster. Working with Irish journalists from Ireland Today and The Examiner, site helps you keep up with the latest news, analysis and party promises as they happen.

Of course, if changing governments isn't your thing then perhaps changing exchange rates are more your style? If so, check out Finfacts -- and bring your golfing stool, because you'll want to sit and stay a while. Aimed at financial managers and chief- executive types, Finfacts focuses on the latest business and financial news, including currency and stock indices, but there's also a smorgasbord of executive info that must be seen to be believed. We checked out Irish salary levels. We looked over new training seminars. We scanned business book reviews, peeked at the recommended wines and gazed despondently at the BMWs we'll never be able to afford. Our favourite: the Dublin "Gridlock Check", a live camera pointed at the traffic on Dublin's O'Connell Bridge. In fact it's actually a link to the trusty old web-cam on the Irish Times site.

If gridlock on the Internet is what's causing you problems, try consulting Kerna, an Ireland-only search engine and directory listing more than 3,000 Irish websites in categories like Recreation and Tourism, Reference, Science, and Society and Culture. Just type in what you need and the system does the rest: entering "Donegal Town" brought up some geneaology links, a few local businesses and a gaggle of B&Bs. Best of all, and guaranteed to eliminate delays, is the unique "preview" facility: rather than explaining what's on a page, the directory provides a preview of the pages themselves, minus any images, to let you see where you're going before you make the jump.

Speaking of jumps, Ireland itself is poised to leap into the information age, or so it seems from the new government report, "Information Society Ireland: A Strategy for Action", available for free download. What's the Information Society, exactly? All you need to know is that it could mean a £1,000 tax break for the purchase of a home computer, plus all kinds of other goodies, including Internet access from all Irish libraries, more computers in schools, and even cheaper telecommunications costs. Hurrah! we say, and Hurrah! again.

Some people build the road to the future, and some people build real stuff. ArchEIRE is the latest brick in the wall that is the Irish architecture scene on-line, featuring news from the Architecture Association of Ireland, an area designed to provoke on-line discussion of local architectural issues, and the latest news of ongoing Irish projects. If you only click on one link, make it Architectural Dublin, an exquisite look at Irish architecture through the centuries, complete with explanations of street names and profiles of people who shaped Dublin's architecture.

If big buildings don't ring your bell, then maybe you're into things that do? For a beautiful sound look no further than that most-Irish of musical instruments, the bodhran, made from specially treated goatskin. Sound difficult? It's all in a day's work for Malachy Kearns, a craftsman known in the trade as Malachy Bodhran. Kearns and his cohorts at Roundstone Musical Instruments in Connemara are famous for their hand-made bodhrans -- those haunting, one-sided Irish drums (it's "bough-ron," by the way, if you're attempting to say it out loud). Whether you want to purchase the instrument, hear its sounds, learn playing techniques or Kearns' own bodhran-making secrets, this site has it covered. You can even get up-close and virtual with Christy Moore, one of Kearns's more famous customers, in an on-line tour of Kearns's workshop. If you have a slow modem, bring your patience: the graphics make the whole affair rather drawn-out, but music lovers will find it worth the wait.

That's all for now -- the kettle's boiled and the Club Milk are being passed around, and go we must... tune in next month for more!

Sites featured in Irish Picks of the Month

• Irish Election '97 - one stop election shop.
  
• Finfacts - useful Irish business information.
  
• Kerna - an Irish only search engine.
  
• Information Society Ireland - a Strategy for Action.
  
• ArchEIRE - Irish achitecture.
  
• Roundstone Musical Instruments - drumming up interest.
  

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