You better watch out because Santa has his sites set on you

'Christmas is really about kids. So, why not give someone a goat?" Troca∅re's website (www.trocaire.org) reminds us that gifts can be ethical, non-commercial and can benefit those in need. Irish people gave some interesting gifts to the developing world last year. A staggering 9,986 chicks were given to needy families in Central America, while 6,672 pigs were given to families in Honduras.

This year, for £10, you can buy a clutch of chicks for families in Colombia or a goat for families in war-torn Angola or drought-affected Ethiopia (£30). The gift certificate can be made out in the name of a friend, relative or customer.

Concern is also offering gifts that will have a "life-changing impact on children and families around the world" (www.concern.ie). Gifts range from immunisation (£20 could help immunise up to four children against life-threatening diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus, tuberculosis and polio in a country such as Bangladesh) to paying a teacher's salary in Mozambique. Irish teacher unions take note: £500 might pay for almost 19 hours of supervision here, at £27 an hour, but, there, it represents an entire year's salary.

Look for your favourite charity on the web. Most have a presence there and almost all are offering personal or corporate gifts or packs of Christmas cards. Ordering over the web can be a convenient way of cutting down on trip to the shops, with the attendant parking problems. At this late date, it's important to check that the delivery will arrive before Christmas. Your best hope is probably to deal with Irish-based sites.

Buy4Now is a successful Irish portal offering access to shops such as Superquinn, Arnotts, Easons, Atlantic Homecare, Eircom store, Nature's Way and Kashan carpets. Gifts featured on the home page when EL visited included a "message bouquet" of "stunning stargazer lilies, cream roses and pink carnations" for £38, a square snowflake candle at £8 and an espresso set, with leopardskin-patterned saucers and wild animal images on the cups, at £27.50.

Shying away from commercialism, Transition Year student Hugh Hackett, of Clongowes, chose a number of fun and interesting Christmas websites, while on work experience in The Irish Times. He recommends a visit to www.njwebworks.net/christmas/, a site that bars Santa and Frosty. "There's a Christmas play, a modern version of the Nativity, which begins with Mary and Joseph in the car, looking for hotel room," he says.

At www.techdirect.com/ Christmas, there are accounts of Christmas traditions and celebrations from around the world - and no ads, says Hugh. He was intrigued to find that Christmas is celebrated on January 7th in the Ukraine, as the Orthodox Christian church uses the Julian calendar.

Another site that Hugh liked was www.santas.net (see below), which tells us that Santa and Mrs Claus have been very busy preparing for Christmas. Having joined the information age in 1997, and launched their own website, they received 6,500,000 hits in November and December last year. "It's an excellent site, but quite commercialised," says Hugh.

His classmate Peter Lennon was impressed with www.christmas.com, which includes an account of ancient festivals coinciding with Christmas. Here, he read of the importance of the winter solstice and how people in northern Europe built fires and kindle lights to encourage the Sun God to relight his lamp. At this time of year, the Romans paid homage to Saturn, and the Persians lighted fires in praise of Mithra, the God of Light.

Moving into the future, www.howstuffworks.com will help you to explain Christmas to any unexpected visitors from outer space. "Let's say that on December 20th you were to meet a friendly space alien... you walk outside to meet the visitor and you find out he's a pretty nice guy." His name is Gorg and his goal is to spend a week on earth finding out about his traditions. You offer to be his guide.

But you may find that you don't know the answers to many of his questions. "Where did Rudolf come from? And why do we deck the halls with boughs of holly?" This website sets out to answer these and many more questions. Peter enjoyed this site, which should appeal to younger web surfers.

Of course, Christmas on the web is just like Christmas in the real world. There's a cacophony of sites trying to grab your attention, sell you their message or, more usually, their products. There's an ocean of virtual Santas, just as there are myriad Santas in grottos in shops.

There's a huge amount of information, some accurate, some wildly inaccurate. And, it can be hard to tell fact from fiction.

NoLik Suna Ditch (courtesy of www.members.tripod.com).