actually the problem with irc is that there are already several private irc servers that are used. To hook into utonet they need permission from the utonet owners, they also need a statement of work from what are volunteer irc staffers around coverage, uptime + admin work etc- thats not really something that is feasible. The alternative is their own irc server, but people wont leave utonet for it so there doesnt seem much point in that either.