Additional changes have been added to the Celtic and Irish Cultural Society website that updates both the functions and the usability of the site.

Users of the Celtic-Irish.co.uk portal can now search the web direct from their toolbar in Internet Explorer 7 or Firefox (wherever they are on the internet).

The internet search is powered by Google, the worlds leading search engine. The search results are identical to those found within Google themselves but with one major difference… when you visit the Sponsored Links, the Celtic and Irish Cultural Society will receive commission.

To add CICS Google Search in Internet Explorer 7:

• Click on the arrow in the top-right corner of the browser window
• Hover your mouse over the “Add Search Providers”
• Click “CICS Google Search”
• Select “Make this my default search provider” and click “Add Provider”

You will now be able to do all your online searches with the CICS Google Search - helping to raise money for local community projects. Just type in the term into the search box and click on the magnifying glass!

To add the Search function within Firefox, Safari (or another advanced browser) the system works in much the same way. In fact in Mozilla Firefox, there are just two clicks involved.

• Click on the current search Provider logo (possibly a Google ‘G’)
• Click “Add CICS Google Search”

If you are not using Firefox already, it is well worth a try. It provides a number of useful functions and adheres to the strictest of internet design standards rendering each page in a manner that assists general and visually impaired users. You can download a copy from the CICS Shop for free.

Another advancement of Web 2.0 is the ability to distribute news globally via RSS (Really Simple Syndication). For users, it means that you can keep up with our news through a Newsreader or on your dynamic homepage (such as iGoogle - the personalised homepage). Information is automatically updated so you don’t even have to visit the site to know there is new news.

If News is important to to you, we’ve also added World and National News from RTÉ and BBC NI to the bottom of our news pages - so you can get all your news from one website should you wish.

A less significant addition is one of aesthetics: we’ve added our logo to the search bar. It’s a little prettier than the Internet Explorer logo, we hope you agree.

The Celtic and Irish Cultural Society is committed to developing new ways to reach out to the Irish community living in the southeast of England and have implemented a number of systems to make this possible.

Just watch this space for even more exciting new content. Or better still, subscribe to the RSS Feed!