Irish literature is now on the Internet. A burgeoning database of writers from Swift to Kate O'Brien, from early Irish writers (500-900 AD) to those who have just published their first novel. Edited by poet Maighread Medbh, Local Literature has been online since March at http://local.ie/culture/literature/ and welcomes involvement, suggestions and debate from institutions and individuals.

Local Literature was created under the umbrella of Local Ireland, which was set up two years ago, the brainchild of Gerry McGovern of Nua Ltd, an Internet developer: "Local Ireland is based on the idea of organising local co-ops to set up structures where the community can put information on the Net," explains Maighread. "The idea is to work from the base up, so people can put commercial and artistic information on the Net, as well as local news." The project is sponsored by Telecom Eireann.

Local Literature comes under the Culture section of Local Ireland, which also includes information on Irish Theatre. As well as a comprehensive list of subsections on each Irish literary period, there is also a section on publishing (which includes lists of agents and publishers), a Writer of the Month (complete with extracts from texts and a bibliography), and a weekly newsletter which is fast attracting subscriptions.