The Irish in Britain, including those of Irish descent, make up a significant part of the UK population. Here, you will find news, entertainment, events, sports and features from the local Irish Post newspaper.

By Siobhan Breatnach

Irish dancing is no longer limited to the confines of the Emerald Isle and now a new venture by two Tipperary brothers is helping to connect dancers from all over the world.

This week sees the official launch of social networking website www.diddlyi.com the internet brain-child of Paul and Shane McAvinchey from Kilruane.

Younger brother Shane has previously toured with Riverdance and now runs a dance school in Munich, Germany. While Paul maintains he is a big fan of the art form, he leaves the actual dancing to his sibling.

He said: “I did dance for a few classes but ultimately my feet were too big.”

“I have worked backstage with Riverdance and Shane has toured with the show. He’s seen first hand the growth of Irish dancing in Europe and particularly in Eastern Europe.”

While social networking has been popular for over a decade the pair decided the time was right to expand the concept to include the Celtic dance form.

Dublin-based Paul said: “For one thing I’m a big fan [of Irish dancing] and on the other side of things we know that sites like Bebo and MySpace do not satisfy that niche.”

Already the site has attracted thousands of people from countries around the world including Britain, Germany, Poland, America and New Zealand, with dancers signing up weekly.

The Diddlyi community uses the site to find and share advice and also to meet other dancers.

Paul said: “The Irish dancing crowd has always been keen on keeping in touch and there is always a big interest in online forums.

“It’s also a great way to bring them back in touch with home. Up until now the technology hasn’t been up to scratch.”

“The main thing that exists is for the Irish dancers to learn and share advice.”

“Irish dancers come together to put questions to more experienced dancers and to talk about the different styles if Irish dancing on one side of the world compared to the other.”

“It’s a learning tool.”

Social networking on the internet first came to the fore in the mid 1990’s and is based on people with common interests coming together to from online communities in which to share their thoughts and experiences on a particular topic via videos, music and photographs.