The number of .ie domain registrations has exceeded more than 750,000, according to the IE Domain Registry, the managed registry for Ireland's .ie domain names.

In the past 12 months, the number of .ie domain registrations rose by 30 per cent on the same period in the previous year, positioning .ie as the Irish market leader, with almost 40 per cent of the domain market.

According to the IE Domain Registry, .com domains account for approximately 33 per cent of the market.

Irish companies represented the largest number of .ie registrants, with 83 per cent of all .ie domains by end 2006.

IE Domain Registry said the growth trend is set to continue in 2007, with registrations having already exceeded 2,700 in a month this year.

"This represents a major milestone in the growth in Ireland's online population and is a strong indicator of the development of e-commerce in Ireland," it said.

The .ie namespace was recently named the second safest country domain name in the world by the McAfee Site Advisor Report.

A prime reason for the high ranking is that the .ie domain name is governed by a managed registry, which means that applicants must authenticate their claim to a domain name, according to IE Domain Registry.

It said this leads to virtually no cyber-crime, identity theft, credit card fraud and fewer incidences of spam and almost no cyber-squatting.