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We have a great time pulling together the Irish Picks of the Web each month, but don't forget that we need your help, too. If you know of an Irish site we should see, send in the site's full name and address to editor Sheila McDonald, and one of our reviewers will give it a look-see. Click here if you only want to view this month's list of sites.
Hold the phone -- one of Ireland's most useful Web sites has finally come online. The Golden Pages lets anyone search the full telephone directory for all of Ireland, for both personal and commercial numbers. The golden pages area is just like the printed version, without the paper: visitors who know they'd like to rent a skip in Limerick, for example, can just type in "waste" and choose the Limerick area, and see a list of matching merchants. The Advanced Search area is even more powerful, offering a drop-down list of commonly searched areas like Dining Out, Computers and Home Improvements. Fabulous!
There are plenty of Web sites that sell quality Irish goods, but the hard bit is finding and keeping track of the merchants with the best products. Celtic Links does the hard work for you: here you'll find a genuinely excellent collection of Irish clothing, giftware, crystal, food, books and unusual collectors' items for sale. Photos of most items are enlargeable, so you can see what you're getting, and the order form is secured for credit card purchase. These folks will ship anywhere, and a currency converter is posted for your shopping convenience.
Ooh, don't get caught looking at this on the job. This devilishly funny new site is aptly named P45, in honour of the walking papers that are handed to outgoing employees. The site's aim is simple: it tries to help surfers waste as much time as possible at work. There's a joke archive, automatic script generators turning out everything from faux Bono lyrics to chat-up lines, and an aimless discussion area addressing burning points like how to get cheese popcorn out of a keyboard. There's also an option to sign up for a weekly e-mail delivery of "one-liners, ramblings and flotsam and jetsam," penned by some bloke known as The Five O'Clock Shadow, "superhero for the digital age."
Church publishing is big business, and Dublin company RPD is right on the money with this attractive new site. The company publishes church offering envelopes for the Sunday takings, plus holiday cards and general church stationery, and its site makes it a doddle for church administrators to customise and order what they need, right online. For weekly church bulletins, there's also a good archive of free, downloadable religious clipart in hi and low-res format, plus a handy set of links to the top religious sites on the Web. God would be pleased.
Finally, spare a little thought for the furry citizens of Ireland this month with the new site from the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. There's the heartwarming story of Flynn and Meggie, two rescued donkeys from the West, plus a facility to help locate the SPCA in any Irish region. Kids can also get into the act: a children's area lets any child send in their animal stories, like Adam, age 11, who rescued a dog called Bill. "Bill is very happy in his self. He still does puncher balls. I love the dog. I love everything he does. I live to look after the dog."