The number of new dot ie domains registered with the national registry fell by 23% year-on-year after the Covid spurt in 2020 and 2021.

As businesses were forced to trade online due to lockdown restrictions, .ie domain registrations surged to 65,100 in 2020 from 50,100 year before.

In 2021 new registrations dipped to 62,200, and then fell sharply to 48,200 in 2022.

David Curtin, chief executive of the .IE registry, said after a growth surge in 2018, due to the removal of the claim to the name requirement, a cooling off period followed and registrations remained steady.

“Since the record-breaking highs in .ie registrations through Covid, a similar cooling off is now evident,” Curtin explained. “Coupled with this, the rate of domain renewals has dropped resulting in overall flat growth for 2022.

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“The main reasons for not renewing domains relate to a business idea not materialising or that the domain is no longer required due to it being used for a single event, or company closure.”

Curtin noted that while the .ie database remains flat year-on-year, the overall trend is positive.

“Since the end of 2019, before the onset of the pandemic and a peak in new registrations, the database has grown by 17% to over 329,000 at the end of 2022.”

For 2023, Curtin signalled some further slippage. “The economic backdrop of inflation, increased energy costs and interest rate increases have had a significant impact,” Curtin stated.

The .IE Domain Profile Report 2022 highlights the additional layer of security to owners of a .ie domain name. The report says there is a constant scanning of .ie sites to detect scams.

The report references over 500 cyber-attacks taken down in 2022. Two in five were phishing scams and one in four were malware attacks.

Only individuals and businesses with a provable connection to Ireland can register a .ie domain. Curtin said that applications from new customers are manually reviewed to ensure that they meet this requirement.

“This process keeps the .ie domain largely free from scams and other illegal activities,” said Curtin. “91% of .ie domain names are registered on the island of Ireland, with the total number of internationally registered .ie domains under 30,000.”

The top international registrants are from Britain (10,980), United States (5,120) and Germany (2,540).

“The findings of our .IE Domain Profile Report highlight some security vulnerabilities of .ie profiles, but also demonstrates where we provide enhanced supports to help Ireland’s digital economy thrive,” Curtin said.

Fun fact: One of the longest .ie websites is 46 characters long at residentialroofingandlandscapingspecialistcork.ie with one of the shortest just one character at w.ie, which trades as Matra.

Photo: David Curtin with Pat Kane, founder & CEO of Reuzi.ie. (Pic: Marc O'Sullivan)