Is it possible to get a intergrated IRC program into the game, it would make things easier when chatting to other people.
You could maybe make the option only available in stations, so it maybe would be easier to intergrate(not sure about that).

The long term aim for this game must to create a community build around guilds and I think IRC would help that.

Is there really a significant difference between our channels and those of IRC?

Plus, there's already an IRC relay bot.

I think his point is that with IRC you can keep in touch with your game buddies from work or school or kiosks at the bank when you can't play. It helps keep the social networks in the game more active.

I tend to think the relay bot works well enough, if the devs will continue to allow that sort of thing post release.

I agree with Hoax. The relay bot does pretty much anything you could want. If the devs let is stay there is no real point IMO to making an integrated IRC system