www.cso.ie

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) is the Government body responsible for compiling Irish official statistics on all manner of things that affect our everyday lives. Of most interest to many at the moment will be the fact the planned census has been delayed for a year due to foot-and-mouth disease. A full statement of why this was necessary is on the site. The history section is very good on details of legislation that allows them to do their work. A good site.

www.inou.ie

The Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed lost some of its power during the Celtic Tiger years, but its website is very useful to anyone doing a project or essay on any aspect of work. Particularly good is the How is Unemployment Measured area which simply explains why there is a difference between the live register figures and the true level of people out of work. The breakdown of unemployment in various regions is also revealing.

www.linkks.com

Linkks is a resource for anyone with an interest in what's going on in Kilkenny, especially in "cyber" Kilkenny - the growing community of Kilkenny people online, at home and abroad. It does what it does wonderfully and is a great example of the power of the Internet to help people stay in touch. The design is sharp, the links work quickly and its coverage of local news and sports is excellent. There is also a guide to the city. Well done to all concerned.

http://whyfiles.org

Whyfiles is produced by the University of Wisconsin at Madison as a resource for children. It explores the science behind the news, so that, for instance, the reasons why South Africa needs to import and sell generic versions of expensive AIDS drugs is explained in a way that does not talk down to the reader. A new story is posted each week, and its substantial archives are easily accessible. The internal search engine is very fast.

www.xrefer.com

Xrefer has free access to over 50 reference titles containing more than 500,000 entries. It works with some of the world's best-known publishers to bring together and interlink their reference works online. It contains encyclopaedias, dictionaries, thesauruses, books of quotations and reference works on a huge range of subjects. A search for the word penguin offered a link to Seamus Heaney (as well as 154 other links) because he has been published by Penguin! Thorough.