Google puts our streets on the map

WEB users can take a virtual tour of Ireland’s highways and byways from today when the Google Street View technology is launched online.

The new feature will allow visitors to the site to navigate their way around almost any street or road in the country, while businesses and tourism chiefs have already hailed it as a valuable tool in helping to sell Ireland to overseas investors and tourists.

The distinctive Google cars and trikes spent the last 18 months driving around the country, photographing each roadway and street, which can now be accessed online or on mobile phones.