May 2008

‘DOMAIN’ event celebrates 100,000th dot.ie for world’s second safest domain - 100,000th Registrant receives free dot.ie domain for 100 years -

Tuesday, 20th May, 2008. The IE Domain Registry, the managed registry for Ireland’s official internet address dot.ie today announced that the number of dot.ie domain name registrations in Ireland had passed the 100,000 mark. Internet community leaders, dot.ie resellers, business and consumer groups gathered in Dublin last night to celebrate this significant achievement for Ireland’s top level domain. This milestone figure indicates new levels of growth and e-commerce activity amongst Ireland’s growing online population.

Guest of honour at last night’s celebration was Minister Eamon Ryan, TD, and Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, who presented the 100,000th registrant www.royal-hospital-kilmainham.ie with free domain registration for the next 100 years. Ireland’s 100,000th dot.ie website was registered with the web hosting and domain reseller company, Novara - through its agent RedSky.

The surge in demand for dot.ie over the past twelve months can be attributed to three key factors. In April 2007 the local namespace was ranked the second safest country code domain name in the world by the 2007 McAfee Site Advisor Report, making it an attractive choice for businesses seeking a secure online trading environment. Secondly, a relaxation of the rules for registering personal dot.ie domains followed in October 2007, when almost 3,900 dot.ie domain name registrations were recorded the following month. The upward trend looks set to continue into 2008. The first four months of this year show the IE Domain Registry averaging over 3,000 dot.ie domain registrations per month, a record quarter for the Registry. Thirdly, the cost of registering or renewing a dot.ie domain fell further when a 5.8% price cut was announced in January 2008; the fifth consecutive price cut by the IE Domain Registry in as many years.

Addressing guests at the event, last night Mr. David Curtin, Chief Executive of IE Domain Registry said; “We’re delighted to see that dot.ie remains the domain of choice for businesses and organisations in Ireland looking to maintain a safe presence online, where cyber crime and fraud are virtually non-existent. Breaking the 100,000th barrier is testament to the trusted nature and wide appeal of dot.ie. The benefits extend to consumers too, who can be assured that with dot.ie they know who they’re doing business with. We would like to extend our thanks and congratulations to our reseller community in particular, who have been the driving force in growing the .ie namespace and in achieving today’s milestone”.

Making the presentation to Ireland’s 100,000th dot.ie registrant, Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Eamon Ryan, TD, said; “It is vital for the advancement of e-commerce in Ireland that companies, organisations and individuals can rely on a secure and trusted online platform from which to conduct their business. The registration of Ireland’s 100,000th dot.ie domain is a very welcome development in this regard and one the IE Domain Registry can be justifiably proud of”.