You can connect directly to the IRC server with the address irc.chambana.net using port 6667 or the SSL port or 8067 (the latter is recommended).

Below is a web interface to the irc server.
Commands begin with / and should be familiar to anyone who has used IRC before - here is a quick summary of the most useful commands.
/join Joins the specified channel. eg: /join #ucimc
/list Lists all the channels on the network (this outputs a lot of information).
/quit Quits IRC totally (same as clicking X in Status window).
/whois Gives some information about a user.
/help Displays more usage/help information.