The Irish Times on the Web has started a series of new services, including a revamped home page, a comprehensive recruitment database, interactive versions of both Irish Times crosswords, and a special section featuring the cartoons of Martyn Turner.
A new genealogical database, which will assist people interested in tracing their Irish ancestors, is to be introduced shortly.
The Irish Times on the Web is the most frequently visited site in Ireland and the first to be audited by the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Recently updated technological advances mean that the speed of access to the Irish Times Website has been dramatically improved.
Until the revamp, the servers which power the Irish Times Website had a capacity to handle requests for information from 500 users concurrently. Bandwidth leading to the site has been improved to such an extent that now more than 1,500 people can access the site simultaneously.
The comprehensive jobs database is aimed primarily at people seeking employment in Ireland, and in response to its popularity - last month more than 118,000 individual searches for appointments information were recorded - it has been enlarged to include advice on personal taxation, mortgages and insurance.
The Irish Times on the Web has been publishing both the Crosaire and Simplex crosswords since June 1996 and they have been popular. Now, however, readers can do the crosswords on their computer screen, without having to print them.
The most popular element of the award-winning Website remains the electronic version of the front page of The Irish Times, which is available on or before 4 a.m. six days a week.
Additional features of The Irish Times on the Web include Sports Extra, a section which provides up-to-date results and comprehensive details of GAA club matches throughout the country, An Teanga Bheo, the weekly Irish-language section, and Dublin Live, which features daily entertainment updates and a live snapshot of O'Connell Bridge.
The Irish Times can be reached at http://www.irishtimes.com/
