252 new .ie domains registered in Longford

A total of 252 new .ie domains were registered in 2022 in Longford.

There was no drop in the percentage of registrations compared to pre pandemic levels of 2019.

'Ireland’ and ‘Longford’ were the most frequently used keywords in new .ie domain names in Longford.

The shortest existing .ie website address in Longford is just three characters long at cir.ie

One of the longest .ie websites registered in Longford is 31 characters long at countylongfordhistorical society.ie.

The information is contained in the .IE Domain Profile Report 2022 which reveals that there were almost 330,000 .ie domain names in the database by the end of last year with 48,168 new .ie domains registered in 2022.

.IE provides an additional layer of security to owners of a .ie domain name, free of charge. This service provides a constant scanning of .ie sites and involves instant notification to an SME’s hosting provider, who can help them take the corrective action once a scam has been detected.

The report revealed over 500 cyber-attacks were taken down in 2022. Two in five were phishing scams and one in four were malware attacks.

Despite a significant increase in cyber-attacks, websites featuring a security certificate were down six percentage points resulting in more websites being vulnerable to attack. This level of security is crucial to safeguard customer’s data.

The report indicated that threats to a .ie domain are lower than other top level domain names such as .com. Only individuals and businesses with a provable connection to Ireland can register a .ie domain. Applications from new customers are manually reviewed to ensure that they meet this requirement. This process keeps the .ie domain largely free from scams and other illegal activities. 91% of .ie domain names are registered on the island of Ireland, with the total number of internationally registered .ie domains under 30,000. Top international registrants are from Great Britain (10,983), United States (5,117) and Germany (2,535).

Speaking at the launch of the report David Curtin, Chief Executive of .IE said; “At .IE it is a priority to proactively tackle abuse in the .ie namespace to protect both SMEs and their customers. The findings of our .IE Domain Profile Report highlight some security vulnerabilities of .ie profiles, but also demonstrates where we provide enhanced supports to help Ireland’s digital economy thrive.

"Our .IE Tipping Point Report 2022 also revealed that SMEs who invested in their online services since Covid, 30% (1 in 3) were busier than they were before the pandemic and 36% maintained the same level of business. SMEs are facing a new wave of economic challenges post Covid but with over 50% planning a significant digital investment in the next five years, we want to make sure they are investing in that digitalisation smartly and are aware of the necessary security features to implement.”

The trustworthiness of a .ie domain is also internationally recognised by The SpamHaus Project, an international non-profit organisation that tracks spam and related cyber threats. They collate a Badness Index for top level domains in real-time with .ie currently listed with a perfect rating of 0.0% in comparison with .com with a Badness Index of 2.5%. 

Regional Growth

• The report identified the counties experiencing the largest growth in new .ie domain registrations, a positive ‘forward-indicator’ of increased regional economic activity, with Tyrone recording the largest growth for 2022 v 2019 at 73.4%. Tipperary came in second overall, with 26.5% growth
• Mayo had the largest had the largest growth (+24.1%) for any county in Connacht, followed by Galway at 8.4% adding 2,303 new domains
• Wexford came out on top in Leinster with an 18.2% increase. Amongst the border counties, Monaghan had the largest percentage growth (+8.4%)

Post Covid Growth

The report also indicates that the Covid surge of digital mobilisation has tapered off, identifying a drop in new .ie registrations year-on-year (-22.6% v 2021). This is much less significant at 4% (2022 v 2019) when compared to more normal pre-pandemic levels and demonstrates that SMEs continue to use websites as a core part of their business with the benefits far outweighing a social media ‘shop front’.

Along with added security, trust and higher search optimisation, there is also a wider choice of available .ie domain names compared to .com. 

The .IE Domain Profile Report can be viewed here.