EuropeanIrish Re-Launch
29th of January 2008 by conor
One of the most successful community sites in Ireland, EuropeanIrish, has just had a major re-launch. This site has been quietly growing to an impressive 1 million uniques last year from its beginning in 2003. For most of its existence it was a part-time labour of love for Siasy Collins but with the closure of Motorola in Cork, he finally took the opportunity to give it his full attention.
The site is all about Irish ex-pats on Continental Europe having somewhere to congregate virtually so they can socialise better face to face. In some ways you could think of it as a niche Upcoming.org since it always has a big list of events that are happening around Europe. But there is a lot more to it than that and it has had a thriving community for many years.
In addition to a general re-build and facelift, they have added “MINE” – My Irish Network in Europe. This is effectively a Social Network for ex-pats and is an idea I love. There are only so many generic Social Networks that are going to get traction but a niche one like this, where you know that the other members have much in common with you, should see lasting growth.
Siasy says that 300,000 Irish people have now made their homes across Europe, and there were 3.5 million trips by Irish residents to the Continent in 2006. It looks like many of those Irish have been using the site for years. Whether it’s entertainment, pubs, social clubs, discussion forums, cultural issues or general news, the site has an angle on it.
EuropeanIrish is based in the Rubicon Centre in CIT in Cork and is taking part in the Genesis Enterprise Programme.