Small firms account for 98% of all national business.

Irish SMEs are set to miss out on a bumper €100m consumer spend on Black Friday as new figures reveal just 35% of SME websites can process payments online.

Pre-tax profits at the firm that operates the dot.ie internet domain name registry decreased by 24% to €253,462, last year, in spite of revenues increasing by 5%.

The number of .ie domain website names has topped 200,000 for the first time.

The majority of small and medium enterprises in Ireland are not able to sell their products online.

More than 90% of SMEs cannot process online sales while six in every 10 cannot take orders online either.

The amount of enterprises signing up for a new dot.ie web address dropped by almost 4% — on an annualised basis — in the first half of this year.

Talk of a first All-Ireland hurling title for Dublin since 1938 flew loosely from the lips of Anthony Daly’s players last year.

A local authority’s warning to a 90-year-old bachelor to repaint his family vault has been described as “bureaucracy gone mad”.

Tomás Brady, Stephen Hiney and Conal Keaney will complete their recoveries from cruciate knee ligament injuries when they line out for Dublin against Laois tomorrow evening.

The Irish internet domain registry is, for the second year, offering SMEs the chance to tap into its €100,000 website development fund, Optimise.

Peter Kelly and Paul Ryan have returned from injury to take their places in the Dublin team to face Galway in Sunday's Allianz Hurling League Division 1A relegation play-off.

“You have to have a dream,” says David Curtin; “Everyone needs a dream.”

LAST year saw a healthy increase in companies taking a dot.ie address for their websites, an address which is ranked as one of the safest domains in the world.

Last year saw a jump of nearly 13% in the number of websites using the .ie domain.

Greenmount 4-10Scoil Padre Pio 0-4

COOLDERRY had an impressive six points win over Ballyboden St Enda’s in this entertaining Leinster Club SHC semi-final at Parnell Park yesterday.

Oulart-the Ballagh survived a second half scare from Laois champions Clough/Ballacolla to register a 3-12 to 2-11 semi-final win in the AIB Leinster Club Senior Hurling Championship.

LAST year saw a 13% increase in total registrations for ‘.ie’ online addresses, according to the IE Domain Registry (IEDR).

Joey Boland will make his first appearance of the summer for Dublin in tomorrow's Leinster SHC final against Kilkenny at Croke Park (throw-in 4pm).

Dublin 2-21 Offaly 1-20, Croke Park

QUARTERLY registrations for dot.ie (.ie) online addresses topped the 10,000 mark for the first time during the first three months of this year.

BALLYBODEN St Enda’s manager Liam Hogan has warned Dublin hurling supporters to be patient with Conal Keaney as he renews his inter-county career.

SHANE O’NEILL was last night named as the new Cork senior hurling captain for the coming season with manager Denis Walsh describing him as the ‘ideal choice’ for the position.

O'Loughlin Gaels (Kilkenny) 1-21 Ballyboden St. Enda's (Dublin) 3-11, Nowlan Park (after extra-time)

BOSS Liam Hogan toasted absent friend Stephen Perkins as Ballyboden St Enda’s claimed an historic fourth Dublin SHC title on the trot.

This afternoon saw Ballyboden St. Enda's and Thurles Sarsfields claim Senior Hurling Championship titles in Dublin and Tipperary respectively, while Loughrea and Clarinbridge will have to meet again following their drawn Galway decider at Pearse Stadium.

A RISE in the number of people starting their own business helped boost profits at the IE Domain Registry (IEDR) last year.

THE number of dot.ie online registrations fell slightly, on a year-on-year basis, in the first half of the year, but a strong second quarter showed demand for domestic registrations remains strong.

THERE are a record 141,243 websites using the .ie domain name according to the latest figures from the IE Domain Registry (IEDR), the managedregistry for Ireland’s official internet address, .ie.

All-Star midfielder Alan McCrabbe has been passed fit to play for Dublin in their Allianz NHL Division 1 tie against Tipperary at Parnell Park on Sunday (throw-in 2.30pm).

Waterford 4-13 Dublin 0-12

Dublin 2-16 NUI Galway 0-12

Dublin 3-16 Dubs Stars 1-11

Shane Ryan will line out for the Dublin Senior hurlers for the first time this Sunday, since his decision to quit the Blues' Senior football panel last October.

Dublin: Ireland’s dot.ie internet domain address has been voted the safest national domain in Europe and the second-safest in the world by leading computer security company, McAfee.

Ballyhale Shamrocks 4-18 Ballyboden St Enda's 0-18

Dublin SHC Final: Ballyboden St. Enda’s 1-16 Craobh Chiarain 0-12

A total of 9,398 .ie domain names were registered in the third quarter of this year, a rise of 15% on the same period last year, according to the IE Domain Registry (IEDR), the managed registry for Ireland’s internet address.

REGISTRATIONS for dot.ie online domain addresses showed a net increase of 26.8% last year, according to the IE Domain Registry (IEDR).

Ronan Fallon looks set to play some part in Dublin's All-Ireland SHC quarter-final clash with Limerick on Sunday, after topping up his match fitness over the weekend.

DUBLIN 2-16 ANTRIM 0-12

Dublin Senior Hurling manager Anthony Daly has named his side to face Antrim in a historic GAA Leinster SHC quarter-final at Croke Park this Sunday (2pm).

The first three months of 2009 saw the highest-ever number of new .ie website addresses registered, despite the economic downturn, it was revealed today.