Internet standards in Ireland are at a reasonable level, though visitors from North America would probably not agree with that assertion. For the private dwelling, 56K dial-up access has been available for years, as has ISDN access, but only recently has DSL been launched in the market place - and at a higher price compared to continental Europe. Eircom and EsatBT are the main players here at the moment. Cable access remains elusive though its introduction by cable TV companies would presumably force the price of DSL downwards to Continental Europe levels.

Connections & Power
Power is the European standard of 230V AC at 50Hz. The standard plug in Ireland is the 3 pin UK-style plug, not the continental 2 pin type. Most airports have such adaptors so pick one up on the way to UK & Ireland to avoid hassle.

Unlike the plethora of different phone plugs in Europe, phone sockets in Ireland are now the standard 4-way RJ-11 type just like those from the modem in your computer so visitors with modem equipped laptops should be able to dial up to an account with ease. To get a free dial-up account for your stay, visit eircom.net (www.eircom.net) or Indigo (www.indigo.ie) and sign up. Both are actually owned by the same company (eircom) and offer nationwide flat rate dial-up numbers so you can keep in touch as you roam around for the price of a local call.

Don't expect all hotels to offer internet access, though a few progressive hotels like The Morgan (www.themorgan.com) are ahead of the posse in offering DSL access to guests for an hourly fee. Many higher quality establishments will offer ISDN though this may be of limited use if you do not have an ISDN modem. As for 802.11b (airport/wi-fi) access in hotels, you can safely count on that not being available at the moment, but this situation may quickly change - there are trials in major hotels on an ongoing basis so you shuold check the eircom.net (www.eircom.net) website for further information on this.

Check out the facilities available in hotels before you book - you can do this online at BookAssist (www.bookassist.com).

Getting Access - Internet Cafés
There are internet cafés everywhere in Dublin, you can't miss them. Rates are good as competition is high. Providing a list is not really worth it as they go in and out of business so frequently - in central Dublin, Dawson Street (P51 map l49o51), Dame Street (N49 map l49o51), Georges Street (N50 map l49o51) and Camden Street (N54 map l52o54) all currently have internet cafés of varying quality.