.ie registrations exceed 10,000 in Q1

.ie registrations exceeded 10,000 in a three month period for the first time. Registrations for Quarter 1 2011 were 10,183 which represents a 5.5% increase on the corresponding quarter last year and an 18.5% increase on registrations in the last quarter of 2010. The total number of .ie domains now stands at 160,000.
The IEDR’s quarterly registrations report reveals steady demand from Irish sole traders and limited companies, that together account for over 80% of new registrants for .ie.
.ie is currently ranked as the fourth safest domain in the world by the McAfee global survey of domains.
However, late last year the IEDR published a report that found that only 66% of Irish businesses have a web presence and just 21% of these had any kind of e-commerce functionality.
“This means that there are considerable online sales opportunities that Irish businesses are missing out on. As businesses continue to struggle with challenging trading conditions I would encourage them to investigate the benefits of marketing and selling online. A fully transactional website can be put in place for a fraction of the cost of the annual rent of a high street retail unit – yet a website shop front can be seen by potential customers anywhere in the world,” said . David Curtin, Chief Executive of IEDR.