Background
St Munchin's Girls' School, situated in a disadvantaged area on the North side of Limerick city, has an enrolment of 270 pupils, (including one special class) and a staff of eleven teachers. Pupils were introduced to computers in 1987, and nowadays all pupils use the school computers regularly. We have 4 computers in the school: one BBC Master Compact, two BBC Master 128 computers, and one BBC A3000.
E-mail link
About two years ago, Mr. Peter Heaney, a teacher in Steelestown Primary School, Derry, contacted Mr. Dermot Chadwick, an Inspector in the Limerick area. Mr. Heaney sought to establish a North-South electronic mail link, and wanted to pinpoint schools in the Limerick area which would be willing to participate in the project. When we heard about this, we were excited by the idea, but knew little of the practicalities of establish- ing such a link. However, by May 1991 , we had installed a telephone extension to a classroom, had pur- chased a PACE LINNET 1200 modem, and CAMPUS COMMUNICATOR, and had subscribed to EIRPAC , CAMPUS 2000, and NITEC. CAM- PUS 2000 is a British computer net- work, which provides a wide range of educational facilities including access to databases, educational projects, and electronic mail communication with several countries. NITEC (based at Dublin City University) is a computer network which promotes the use of information technology in Irish schools, and provides services such as electronic mail, and access to a vateity of databases. Electronic mail allows schools to communicate using personal mailboxes which are identi- fied by numbers. Schools or other users who wish to contact us, send a message to our mailbox which we can read, print, or save to a disc, when we link up to the system. When we wish to send a message to an- other school, the pupils can write it in advance using a wordprocessor like VIEW or EDWORD, save it, and then send the saved version from the disc to the approproate mailbox.

Over the past year, we have frequently used the electronic mail service pro- vided by Campus Gold. We logged on to CAMPUS 2000 on May 27th. 1991 , and looked in our own mailbox for the very first time. Seven messages -four from schools in Britain, one from a school in Norway, and notices from CAMPUS 2000, were waiting for us. These were greeted with great ex- citement by the pupils in our senior classes, who set to work immediately on their relplies. Since then, we have been in touch with children in several other countries, including France, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Russia, and Japan. By now, our link with Steelestown primary school in Derry is firmly established. In January of this year, our sixth class took part in the Worldtour Electronic Mail Project organised by CAMPUS 2000, and we 'hosted' hundreds (if not thousands) of 'visitors' to Limerick.

Scoil Mhainchin Naofa Steelestown Primary School Electronic Mail Link.
In the summer term of 1991 , the girls in fourth class at St. Munchin's Girls' school, and the pupils in Primary Six at Steelestown Primary school, Derry, started to communicate using elec- tronic mail. All the pupils began by introducing themselves, and this led to further questions and deeper thought about their own lives and the lives of their friends. The childrens' wish to share more information about themselves, meant that further com- munication was a necessity, and in order to introduce a wider dimension, information was also exhanged on the following topics:
.Our Class
.Our School .
Sports Day
.The School Tour .
Amelia Earhart
.Patron Saints: Columcille, Munchin
.Local Place-names
Photographs, drawings, and poems, written and illustrated by pupils, were exhanged by conventional surface mail. The arrival of messages (which were read and re-read) was greeted with loud cheers. Replies were pre- pared with enthusiasm. After a few weeks it became clear that our pupils were getting a detailed picture of the lives of their friends in Derry , and that Derry was becoming a real place for them -not just a dot on the map. On St. Columcille's feast day (June 9th.) the girls in fourth class wore oak leaves -as did their friends in Derry.
By September, the pupils of Primary Six were in Primary Seven, and busily preparing for their Eleven-Plus Ex- amination. We therefore decided that our incoming fourth class would com- municate with the new Primary Six for the year, and that our incoming Fifth class would resume contact with their friends in Primary Seven after the Eleven Plus examination. During the present school year, the main themes for communication have been:
.Introducing myself .
Our class
.Pollution -Dupont .
Limerick: Siege and Treaty 1691-1991
.Treaty 300: October 3rd 1991 .
Hallowe'en .
Christmas
.Limerick/Derry 1 00 years ago .
Tall Tales
.Names: place-names, surnames, christian names.

Throughout the year, photographs. postcards, artwork. and other items of interest have been exchanged us- ing conventional mail In addition, the pupils in both classes have been 'paired' so that each pupil has a 'com- puter pal'. The 'pals' have written personal messages to each other several times using electronic mail and conventional mail. It is obvious that our girls enjoy communicating with their pals in Derry, and that the link has proviced a real purpose for writing on a wide range of topics. It has encouraged pupils to look closely at their own environment, and has helped them to learn about the environment of their friends in Derry.

The Worldtour Electronic Mail Project.
Last September, a 'Worldtour Project' ('Around the World in 70 Days with Electronic Mail' ) was advertised by CAMPUS 2000. The project was open to both primary and secondary schools. Over a period of 70 days, 'travelling' schools used electronic mail to 'visit' host schools in ten coun- tries, staying in each country for 5- 7 days. Schools interested in taking part were encouraged to register with CAMPUS 2000 by mid-October 1991 . The organisers then planned the itinerary for the tour, which com- menced in Great Britain on January 13th. 1992, Our sixth class girls were thrilled to be selected as the hosts for Ireland. The first task of each host school was to write a profile of its area, giving information about loca- tion. transport, accommodation, cli- mate, clothes, sport and leisure ac- tivities, shopping, tourist attractions, food. money, and other items of inter- est to a visitor. This background in- formation was to be put on 'The Worldtour Conference' by mid-No- vember 1991. From then, it could be received and read by all schools particpating in the project and used by them when planning their 'trip of a lifetime'. 27-3j January 1992 was a busy week for our sixth class: they hosted all the Worldtour travellers to Ireland. Each morning, our pupils sent a greeting, a weather report, and a detailed itenerary forthe day, byelec- tronic mail; this was then put on the Worldtour Conference. The itinerary contained a desGriptive account of the places to be visited, details on food, clothes, and leisure activities for the day, and also gave an insight into living in our locality. Over the week, our 'guests' were taken (in spirit!) to Lough Gur, Bunratty Castle, Craggaunowen, King John's Castle, The Farm at Pallaskenry, Arthur's Quay Shopping Centre, and St. Munchin's Girls' School. 'Guests' en- joyed a variety of treats, from Irish dancing to chinese cooking. Throughout each day, 'travelling' schools responded, and several re- quests arrived for additional informa- tion on a wide range of topics includ- ing President Robinson, legends, lo- cal industry, technology in Irish schools, and Irish flowers. The sixth class team quickly researched and prepared replies, which were then added to the conference. On Friday morning, an exhausted but elated sixth class welcomed the Mayor of Limer- ick, Alderman Jim Kemmy, to the school. The Mayor sent a message of goodwill and farewell to the children worldwide who had 'visited' Limerick while participating in the Worldtour Project, and who were now preparing to 'travel' on to their next destination: Florida.
Other Electronic Mall Contacts

1 .Norway. One of our very first mes- sages was from a school in Overhalla, Norway. A group of 1 O-year old pupils in that school who were learning Eng- lish, were interested in writing elec- tronic mail letters to English-speaking children. Our ten year olds were de- lighted to respond. To date, 'personal letters' have been exchanged several times using electronic mail. The chil- dren have also exchanged informa- tion on topics like:
/ .Our School/
.Our area
.Tourist attractions
.Fishing
2, Norfolk. Since last September, some of the girls in fourth class have been writing to 10-11 year old pupils
who are members of an e-maillunch- time club in their school in Dersingham. In recent weeks, some of the children have corresponded, and exchanged photographs and postcards. They have also exchanged interesting information on their home neighbourhoods, using electronic mail.
3. Glasgow. Last December, an eleven year old girl from Richmond Park wrote to us. Her class was doing a project on legends. One of our girls sent her a copy of' The Children of Lir' , and in return, received copies of two Maori legends. They have been in touch several times by e-mail during the last term.
4. Japan and Moscow. Last Novem- ber, the girls in fourth class wrote to some schools around the world, re- questing some information on local Christmas and/or New Year customs. Contact with some of the children who responded has been maintained, and three of our girls now have com- puter pals in Moscow, while two girls have computer pals in Japan.
5. Germany. During March 1992 we were contacted by two German schools- one is planning an interna- tional projecton culture, and the other is looking for overseas contacts. We have already replied to both, and have sent them information on one of Limerick's oldest and most beautiful buildings: St. Mary's Cathedral,
6. Cornwall. The pupils of Penryn Community School are involved in a number of European projects, and have received help from our children in the collection of data for some of these.
New Horizons Electronic mail with CAMPUS 2000 has broadened our horizons and opened many exciting doors for us. However, it also presents us with a 'problem'; we receive so many inter- esting contacts from schools throughout the worid that it is impossible to respond to them all! Never- theless, we look forward to next year's contacts and what surprises they may bring!