Dot.com companies may be going to the wall, but one west of Ireland site is optimistic about its future. It deals with an eternal subject, parenting.
Aptly named RollerCoaster.ie, the website is a valuable resource for parents of children of all ages, providing information on a vast range of subjects, from pregnancy and childbirth to education and discipline.
RollerCoaster is the brainchild of Anne O'Connor and her husband, John Feeley, who as well as being parents were ideally placed to set it up. Anne spent many years working as a child clinical psychologist, but it was her experience in a sleep clinic in Dublin that highlighted for her the importance of an information resource for parents. In 1995 John had set up irishjobs.ie, the State's No 1 recruitment site which he sold in 1999 to Denis O'Brien.
His work gave him vast experience of the Internet, and so they decided to set up their parenting site in March last year.
Both graduates of NUI Galway, Anne is from Clare and John is from Roscommon. They have worked in Dublin, England and Scotland but returned to Kinvara in south Galway in 1998, where they set up home and office.
There are nine easily accessible parenting channels on RollerCoaster.ie including sleep, childcare, nutrition, development, family finance, discipline and recommended reading. Every article is unique to the site and is written by Anne and a team of expert psychologists, dieticians, midwives and psychotherapists.
Very popular with visitors are the discussion boards through which parents can give and get advice from other parents. There are 20 such boards dealing with topics such as breast feeding and nutrition.
The Meeting Point is also popular with parents who want to find out about a play-group or mother-and-toddler group in their area, or want to meet someone for a cup of coffee and a chat.
When the site started last March it had about 5,500 visitors, a figure which has more than trebled. Anne believes this is because the information is given in a practical and user-friendly format.
Another useful resource is the Out and About section which provides a county by county listing of child-friendly accommodation, restaurants and attractions. The site also lists children's events around the State from week to week.
RollerCoaster.ie runs polls and surveys regularly and publishes the findings online. A survey on childcare identified this as a major issue with parents who agree that facilities are inadequate, there are not enough options and there is much confusion about standards.
www.RollerCoaster.ie