In The Name Of The Fada: Irish Web Domains Coming

It’s a great month for celebrating Irishness after a festive St. Patrick’s Day and the imminent centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising is almost upon us. The IE Domain Registry (IEDR) has gotten in on the act by announcing that Irish Websites will soon be able to put fadas into their URLs.

The IEDR manage all .ie domain names and this change will enable websites owners to include á, é, í, ó and ú when creating a URL.

This change will allow Irish speakers to conduct business and other online activities more effectively, according to the IEDR.

David Curtin, the CEO of the IEDR, has expressed his delight at the new service and said that it would help “showcase [the Irish] identity to a global online community.”

“Making fada .ie domain names available will now provide a further opportunity for us to showcase that identity to a global online community. Just like .ie domain names, fada .ie domain names will allow businesses to communicate trust, familiarity, and Irish authenticity.”

“This is the week we celebrate our national holiday and our sense of pride in being Irish,” added Curtin. “Our language is a key part of that identity and something which distinguishes us from every other country.”

The IEDR held a 30-day public consultation process to allow those interested to voice their opinion. This ended on March 21st. Once this process is complete, a further 30-day “sunrise period” will allow trademark holders to register .ie addresses that correspond exactly to a protected right, as a way of reducing cybersquatting and brand infringement.

The Journal states that the following  “30 days after that will be the ‘landrush’ period and will allow existing .ie holders who have Irish language sites to register before the offer is opened to all.”

For further information on registering a new domain name visit the IEDR.

The IEDR are also now accepting applications from SMEs for the 2016 Optimize fund. Winners will receive free web development and digital marketing work from experts for their websites.

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