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Site for Irish diaspora
Sunday, November 09, 2008 By Michelle Devane
A group of Irish-American businessmen is raising $5 million for a new website targeting the Irish diaspora around the world.

Based in New York, Irishcentral.com has 12 employees and plans to open a headquarters in Dublin, according to its chief executive, publisher Niall O’Dowd. He said the company was in talks with potential investors in the US and Ireland.

The current investors in Irishcentral include Allen & Co chairman Don Keough, Denis Kelleher of Wall Street Access, Tom McInerney of Welch Carson Investment Bank, and John Hartnett, head of the Irish Technology Leadership group in Silicon Valley.

The site will be launched around St Patrick’s Day next year, and will offer Irish-themed news, sports, entertainment and business coverage. Content will come from Irish America magazine, the Irish Voice newspaper and Home and Away newspaper.

‘‘We are seeking to put a nation’s heritage and diaspora online for the first time, starting off in the US and later expanding as we seek to reach the millions of people who have a true connection to Ireland,” O’Dowd said.

‘‘We believe that most Irish sites are either focused on Ireland itself, or are too small and fragmented to take advantage of the opportunity.”

O’Dowd said the site expected to make money from advertising, particularly with airlines and the tourism sector.

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