Irish people and organizations all over the world can look forward to having their own distinctive digital identity from June 25 when ‘General Availability’ registration of .IRISH domain names begins.

.IRISH is the new top-level domain that makes it possible to use the word ‘Irish’ after the dot in a web address in the same way .com or .net are used. For the Irish business community and all other walks of Irish life, the arrival of .IRISH domain names opens up exciting new opportunities to market and communicate more effectively. From small to medium enterprises and emerging brands through to large organizations and iconic brands, expect to see distinctive web addresses appearing soon with the word ‘Irish’ after the dot.

Dot-Irish LLC’s Chief Operating Officer, Mervyn O’Shaughnessy said, “Irish people everywhere have a great sense of identity and are very proud of their heritage. The launch of .IRISH provides the global Irish community with a distinctive digital identity that can be easily recognized and understood throughout the world. Whether it’s for business and professional use or for lifestyle and leisure, .IRISH gives Irish people everywhere a really meaningful digital identity that clearly says ‘Irish’.”

Registry Operator, Dot-Irish LLC works in partnership with a global network of accredited registrars including Blacknight Solutions, eNom, Webnames.ca, Name.com, Register.com, 1&1, Instra, Network Solutions, Safenames and Netistrar who can assist with the registration process. More detailed information about the registration options along with a listing of accredited registrars can be found at www.nic.irish.

People who don’t want to wait for General Availability ‘first come first serve’ registration can apply for their preferred domain name during the current ‘Landrush’ phase which ends on June 20. If the domain name applied for is not on a reserved list, it will be allocated after June 20. If there are multiple applications for the name, an auction will decide the allocation of that domain name. A list of higher value premium domain names including popular keywords and generic terms will also become available for registration in General Availability.

Registry Operator, Dot-Irish LLC is authorized to operate the .IRISH top level domain by ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. The company has offices in Ireland and the US and is wholly committed to providing a distinctive digital identity to help the global Irish community connect, grow and prosper.