By Nick McElwee, co-founder of the SEVENTYMILLION Project

Before we had the idea we heard the number mentioned lots of times: there are seventy million people in the world calling themselves Irish. But where are they? And who are they? Exactly how many are there? And by no means least, are they talking to each other?

So we, at what was to become the SEVENTYMILLION project, set out to see what was going on. We found that the exact number was unreliable. We found that the Irish around the world were sort of organized but in a very localized and fragmented way.

And we found that while the Internet had the potential to be a powerful playground for the Irish Diaspora, it was in fact a graveyard of disused, sometimes long forgotten Irish related websites.

So Karl and I set up SEVENTYMLLION: An online project that sets out to find, map and connect the supposed 70 million people around the world who have an Irish link, be it in part or total. There are two elements to SEVENTYMILION:

First, the SEVENTYMILLION Project (SEVENTYMILLION.org) attempts to record the community. The project started on St. Patrick's Day, March 17, 2008 with the aim of finding and profiling as many of the global Irish as possible. It’s an online map but we are hoping the project reaches out beyond the Internet through word of mouth and existing Irish related community networks.

Second, the SEVENTYMILLION Social Network (SEVENTYMILLION.com) provides an online community for people to get involved with the project as it grows, to share ideas and sustain the project momentum. We're a small team and need help. It also provides an opportunity for people on the map to connect on an individual level with each other.

So far, we have over 700 people on the map and just under 400 on the social network. Clearly, we have a long way to go but we are committed and will keep going until we get there. We have always said that we will do this "one click at a time" and that’s how it works – we tell one person, they tell someone else and so on. At some stage, we hope to hit critical mass and see this project snowball. Just when that happens we don’t know.

Although we call the project SEVENTYMILLION, this is not just about numbers. It's a human project; it's about possibly the most fundamental thing for any human being - where they come from. We have on the site a roll of comments that people have made about what it is to be Irish, it is truly amazing to read these comments and see how much being Irish means to them.

The potential of a dynamic, connected and decision making global Irish community is limitless and in that sense, this project is only the start. Exactly where it goes is not up to us; it's up to the community that we find and connect.

That's what's so exciting, the project and community could go in any one of a million directions: business contacts, friend networks, support groups, global travel, family roots, it could have its own currency, its own economy, its own and the World's first, elected online President. Regardless, we're here to try and facilitate as much as possible but leaving it to us alone will slow the whole thing down.

That's where you come in: we'll get it started but we encourage innovation and ideas within the community for the community. Please join us today and put yourself on the map, your online Irish community needs you!

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