It's no secret that Ireland’s facing challenging times. So what if there was a way for online shoppers to generate much needed funds for a host of the best known Irish charities with no additional cost to themselves?

Thanks to the online shopping mall www.shoppingforireland.com online shoppers can purchase items at their own regular online brand name stores, and at the same time they can generate a contribution to an Irish charity with no hidden cost to themselves. Big box retailers are willing to pay the Irish website a fee for directing customers to their stores, and in turn www.shoppingforireland.com sends that fee to the charity of your choice.

“By adding three additional clicks to their online shopping experience shoppers generate funds for Ireland,” says website creator John Coogan, himself an Irish ex-pat from Portmarnock in Dublin.

“It’s just a way of providing assistance to Irish charities that help the less fortunate back home. The whole idea came about from a discussion I had with my family back in Ireland about what we could do to help the country out.”

There is no additional cost to the online shopper who uses the site, and in fact the shopper may even save money by clicking on the special offers and discount coupons that are often available. Anytime you want to buy something online you simply have to log in via www.shoppingforireland.com and make a purchase without having to make a donation.

Coogan works for a U.S.-based technology company involved in charitable giving, which helped him develop the concept for the Irish website.

“The beauty of this website is that it lets people generate contributions to Irish charities without asking them for money. All you have to do is add three mouse clicks to your experience and you can generate it,” he says.

If you chose to become a member of the site you can gain the ability to set your own default charity and stores, and track the donations that you have earned for your chosen charity.

“I’ve been dealing with the charitable world for the last seven years and I’ve seen first hand a lot of the benefits these organizations can do. My brother in Ireland understands web design and the technology involved and he created the website,” says Coogan.

To publicize the new site Coogan is now reaching out to the Irish communities across the U.S. “We’re setting up our own Facebook page, and our own Twitter account. On the website itself we’ve made it easy to log in and let other people know the site exists. People who are interested in supporting Ireland can just come on board and help get the word out too,” he said.