Irish getting up to speed on net

IRELAND is catching up with the internet age but people are slow to engage in social networking, chat sites and posting blogs.

After years of suffering from slow or no internet access, the latest figures show most households — and especially those with children — have caught up with the EU average for broadband connection.

They surpass the average for internet access, but much of this is on mobile phones and other devices. The numbers with broadband connection has gone from 13% to 58% in the past four years, but is still less than the average.