The company responsible for regulating the .ie internet domain is to make it easier to register a website that uses the Irish web address identifier.
Until now, anyone who wanted to register a website using the .ie domain had to have a valid claim to the desired name.
They also had to prove that they had a real and tangible connection to Ireland.
This had proven a major barrier to Irish businesses, particularly new ones.
But following a public consultation and policy development process, the IE Domain Registry (IEDR) has decided to retain the requirement to have a connection to Ireland, but dropped the need to prove a valid claim to the name.
This, the IEDR said, will help sped up the registration process and make it easier for people, clubs, community organisations and businesses.
"By simplifying the .ie registration process, it will be easier to get a preferred website address or email address which will have a clear, identifiably Irish connection," said David Curtin, the chief executive of IEDR.
"More people, organisations, communities and businesses across Ireland, and those around the world with Irish heritage or Irish operations, will be able to reach out to the wider internet community, communicate with their customers, and buy and sell online with e-commerce," David Curtin said.
Among the considerations looked at by the policy advisory committee working group at IEDR were issues around cybersquatting and dispute resolution.
New domains will be registered on a first-come first-served basis and a dispute resolution process is in place, with an alternative currently being considered.
The new policy change is expected to come into force within four months, by March 2018.
