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It's hot, it's Irish and it's yours once a month -- it's Irish Picks, a
selection of the country's interesing web sites, compiled with the
ever-helpful suggestions of you,
the surfing public. Don't forget to e-mail us if you come across any Irish
sites we should know about! Click here
if you only want to view this month's list of sites.
Whether you've got a nose for news, a head for business or a heart that goes out to the needy, there's a site for you in November's Picks, a half-dozen of the hottest new web sites in Ireland. Click on, friend, click on.
Entering the already-crowded market for Irish online newspapers is one of the strongest contenders we've seen so far, the Sunday Business Post. This weekly business, political and economic newspaper has gone online with a sleekly designed and chock-full site: there's a dedicated technology news section, plus politics, personal finance and media news, arts and restaurant reviews, as well as a special section on living and locating in Ireland. All issues of the paper since the beginning of September are searchable, and visitors may also opt to receive a weekly digest of the paper by email every Monday morning. Feeling opinionated? Check out the weekly online poll, addressing questions like tax reform and the recent Presidential race. This is the kind of site Ireland needs more of.
It's no news to those who know Ireland that the charitable impulse here is strong indeed. Now online with an eye-catching site is World Vision, the Irish charity dedicated to worldwide disaster relief and the sponsoring of children in need. Persuasively written and providing a secure online credit card donation form, the site gives the conscientious surfer every opportunity to exercise their generosity: read how far just £7 will go to help protect children against malaria, or look over the projects already underway in Asia and Africa, including Irish-government sponsored work to train women tailors in Southern Sudan. An online shop featuring Celtic jewellery is due to open soon, and a competition offering a free trip to America or Ireland from the U.S. is open to anyone who becomes a Friend of World Vision.
Showing vision of its own is the Dublin Chamber of Commerce, now online with a chic and radically overhauled site. Divided into four sections, the site includes a business forum, a list of business opportunities, lifestyle information about travel and tourism around Dublin, and news about the chamber itself. There's an excellent overall search facility that scans the chamber's press releases, newsletters and reports for any keywords, and the Forum section provides a thorough guide to the top questions about European Monetary Union -- Will the UK join? What should a company do now to prepare for EMU? When will companies begin using the Euro? Members of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce have an extra service at their disposal: each has received a special CD-ROM that lets them enter the site and publish their own company's news, announcements or job openings. Keep an eye on this site for the new Chambernet excellence awards, presented monthly to an outstanding Irish business web site.
Irish business web sites, as well as education, government and recruitment resources are all presented with style at the much-travelled Infosite Ireland, an excellent 32-county guide to all things Irish. Looking for political information? Infosite not only lists the major political party websites, but also presents specific on-going campaigns, including the push to give Irish emigrants a vote back home. The comprehensive education section also goes down to a granular level, including Irish summer schools, English courses and the ambitious CELT online database of Ireland's historical documents. Infosite's all-Ireland perspective is refreshing and useful, presenting Northern Ireland and UK headlines alongside news from the Irish Times, and UK government resources with those from the Republic. It also includes a Shopping Mall with the best collection we've seen of Irish online merchants, and while the What's New collection of new Irish websites may be outdated, the rest of the site more than makes up for it. One for the bookmarks.
Cool or creepy? Convenient or crass? You be the judge. Both a landmark and the final resting place of more than a million Irish men and women, Dublin's Glasnevin Cemetery has now gone, er, live with an intriguing site. Want to repatriate the cremated remains of loved ones to Ireland? Full prices, instructions and the address to which ashes should be forwarded are on the site. Lost track of an ancestor and think she may be resting in Glasnevin? Fill out the online form, and for a fee of £6 the staff will look for a gravesite that matches the given name and date of death -- if the search is successful, the fee rises to £12.
Maybe the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland could teach them a thing or two about right and wrong. More smartly designed than many brochure-type websites, ASTI's site is a neat, useful guide for members of this teacher's union, including an excellent FAQ on career break, sick and pregnancy leave entitlements, teaching contract questions and a great deal more. An online form lets interested teachers apply for membership, and there's also an explanation of the services the union provides, including salary negotiation, legal assistance and a benevolent fund.
And that, as they say, is it for November. Don't forget to check in for our look at Christmas in Ireland... coming at you faster than you think!