IntroductionThis paper seeks to describe and study the growth of Internet penetration in Ireland. The origin of the Internet was ARPANET, a project funded by the United States Department of Defense (DOD) in 1969. Kennedy (2012) states that twenty years ago, Barry Flanagan started Ireland On-Line in his home in Galway, making the Internet a consumer phenomenon in Ireland. The Internet therefore began in 1992 in Ireland, twenty-three years later than in the United States. Since then, growth in Internet penetration has been rapid. Background The number of households connected to the Internet via a computer increased from 5% in 1998 to 41.5. % in 2005. (CSO 2005). This shows that there has been exponential growth over the years. As of 2013, the Internet in Ireland is used by 77% of the population and is a significant contributor to the economy and education Wikipedia (2014). The increase in household Internet use is clearly illustrated in Figure 1 and it also clearly shows how the number of people owning a home computer with Internet is catching up with those owning a computer without Internet. In other words, the two lines in Figure 1 will eventually merge as the Internet grows rapidly. Over the years, the Internet has become a necessity rather than a luxury.Figure 1 Source CSO (2013)Growth of the InternetMany factors reveal that there has been a massive growth of the Internet over the years. In 2010, it was revealed that the Internet was running out of addresses to assign to new devices, due to the massive growth of the web, particularly mobile Internet. (Kennedy, 2010) This is one of the signs that there is a high demand that cannot be met by supply and that there is a need to intervene to meet the growth....... middle of paper......nd-more-of-us-are-using-mobile-devices-26872528.html [Accessed April 2, 2014]. Kennedy (2010) “Moving to IPv6 is essential as the Internet reaches its growth limits” [Online]. Silicon Republic. Available at: http://www.siliconrepublic.com/comms/item/16254-move-to-ipv6-critical-as-in [Accessed April 2, 2014]. Nuasoft (2014) “Irish Internet Usage Statistics” [Online] Nuasoft Available at: http://www.nua.ie/surveys/ [Accessed 2 April 2014] Weckler (2014) “Streaming services push usage of Internet in Ireland by 75% » [Online]. Independent.ie. Available at: http://www.independent.ie/business/technology/streaming-services-push-irish-internet-use-up-by-75pc-30080200.html [Accessed 2 April 2014].Wikipedia (2013) 'Internet in the Republic of Ireland' [Online]. Wikipedia Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_in_the_Republic_of_Ireland [Accessed April 2 2014] .