Ms O'Rourke, Minister for Public Enterprise, with Ms Lucy Gaffney, managing director, Esat Clear, at a function to introduce the portal site from Ireland On Line, which is online from today.

Ireland On Line (IOL) will today unveil an Internet portal site, which its hopes will be used by hundreds of thousands of Irish Internet surfers in the run-up to Christmas. Esat, IOL's parent company, said the site would combine "content, commerce, community and connectivity".

Esat bought IOL, along with its sister company PostGem, earlier this year for £115 million (€146 million). The company said the site - www.iol.ie - would be accessible from today.

The firm said some services, such as web-based e-mail, had not yet been integrated with the new portal site.

"While still in the early stages of development, the site already provides users with a wide range of services, including news reports, sports and financial headlines," IOL said. It also includes weather reports, television schedules, travel information and children's games.

Esat Clear's new managing director, Ms Lucy Gaffney, said the introduction of the site represented a step towards the integration of IOL and the Esat group. This was important for the future growth of the Internet and electronic commerce in Ireland.

She said she had been particularly anxious to have the site up and running in time for the Christmas season, as it allowed Internet users visit online florists, bookshops, wine stores, haberdasheries, and other shops such as House of Ireland.

Mr Fergal Marrinan, head of new media development at Esat, said the shopping mall would grow in the weeks ahead, with the site offering a personalised service for each user as it developed.

"The site represents an exciting development in terms of advertising. Through market segment information it will offer advertisers a new, effective, low-cost medium to reach their target audiences," Mr Marrinan said.