THE race to provide the definitive gateway to Ireland on the Internet has begun. The past two weeks has seen the launch of six new Irish websites, providing everything from news and information to a guide to Irish pubs in New York.

The new Irish websites include Nua's Local Ireland US; the Government's Ask Ireland: Touchtel's tourist information site GoIreland; Interact Services Ireland's Irish Pub Guide; Enterprise Ireland's IT Networking Forum and The Irish Times's Ireland.Com.

On St Patrick's Day, the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, launched Nua's Irish communities websites for the US in Washington DC. With the new site, Nua will extend Local Ireland to US cities, providing services such as Local New York and Local Boston.

"Local Ireland is a guide to all Irish information and communities with the content supplied by the grassroots Irish communities in Ireland and overseas," said Mr Niall Swan, Nua's US director of operations.

However, it is early days for the new site which is sparsely populated at present.

On March 12th, the Taoiseach also launched the IT Networking Forum, a site dedicated to providing online help to new companies doing business in Silicon Valley.

Meanwhile, the recently launched Ask Ireland is the Government's web presence, providing among other things a single source for all trade and commerce-related Government departments on the Internet.

The site includes content from IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, the Irish Tourist Board, the Department of Agriculture and Food and the Shannon Development Authority.

"Our intention is to provide information on every aspect of Irish business," said Mr Jim Mongey, marketing manager, Enterprise Ireland.

"We plan to include links to the 3,000 Irish companies." Ask Ireland is also designed to provide information for emigrants who wish to return home, according to Mr Mongey.

For those who wish to visit rather than relocate in Ireland there is Touchtel's GoIreland. The website aims to provide tourists with the ability to book hotels or a guest house or simply identify a good restaurant in Ireland. However, due to a technical glitch or there being no content, many links delivered up blank pages.

Unlike many of the websites launched which provide information about Ireland to the outside world, ISI's Irish Pub Guide is designed to provide information for the Irish in New York.

The site (which was not yet online at the time this feature went to press) will provide a pictorial guide and written reviews of Irish pubs in New York. ISI is not planning to build its own web empire, rather the company plans to franchise out the site plan to other US cities such as San Francisco and Chicago, according to the company's managing director, Mr Ian Spandau.

Ireland.Com, launched last week, extends The Irish Times on the Web news service to include new online offerings, including free e-mail accounts, a Dublin city guide and new technology and business sites.

How will these Web ventures make money? It is difficult to tell. Web advertising revenue is as yet not providing sufficient revenues to finance even some of the world's busiest websites. However, some sites like GoIreland may derive a healthy income by charging either the Web surfer or more likely the guest house, or hotel, a fee for each transaction.

Others will depend on Irish emigrants in the US, Canada and Australia to buy Irish-based goods and services over the Internet.

While most US Web portals offer users the ability to find the living by providing Web directories, the Irish sites specialise in finding the dead.

Ireland.Com, GoIreland and Local Ireland all feature online genealogy services - perhaps flooding the market with information about ancestors.

However, many of the new sites leave the Web user with the impression that they could have benefited with a little more time in development.

For example, GoIreland and Local Ireland are light on content, Ask Ireland is difficult to navigate and The Irish Times's Ireland.Com can be difficult to reach.

Not insurmountable problems for sure, but Web surfers are typically an impatient lot and once disappointed they may never return.

Ask Ireland is at www.askireland.com

GoIreland is at www.goireland.com

The US Irish Pub Guide is at www.irishpubguide.com

Local Ireland is at www.local.ie

Ireland.Com is at www.ireland.com