The latest addition to Skynet's services is an irc channel. For irc veterans the server is irc.csn.ul.ie port 6667, and it is only accessible within UL. The most used chatroom on it is #foobar with a few others there aswell.
To use this service, run
skychat
at the command prompt. This starts the BitchX irc client and automatically joins #foobar on irc.csn.ul.ie using your skynet username as your nick. BitchX is a very powerful irc client. For those interested, you can find out more about it by running
man BitchX
from the command prompt or visiting their web page www.bitchx.com.
For those new to it, I'll run through a few of the most used commands.
Every command in BitchX is preceeded by a '/' (without the quotes). To get a list of all the commands, type /help at the BitchX prompt. To get help on the commands type /help command, replacing command with the command you wish to get help on.
Some of the most used commands are as follows:

• /j -- joins a chatroom.
  Usage: /j room_name
• /l -- leaves a chatroom.
  Usage: /l or /l room_name
• /nick -- changes nick.
  Usage: /nick new_nick
• /msg -- sends a private message.
  Usage: /msg nick
• /me -- used to emote an action.
  Usage: /me action
• /names -- shows people logged on.
  Usage: /names #room_name
• /who -- shows a long list of people logged in.
  Usage: /who
• /whois -- shows information on a current nick.
  Usage: /whois nick
• /quit -- exits BitchX.
  Usage: /quit

This is just a basic list of the most used commands. For a more comprehensive list of commands and better descriptions, check the man page, the help within BitchX or the BitchX website.
There is also a web interface to skychat here maintained by hostyle.
Report any problems to ircadm@skynet.ie.