I tried the tinychat and though it seems a nice stable interface it lacks alot of what a IRC network offers. This idea has been tossed around before and with some support it would work very well for us.
Here is what I can offer at my expense (time and otherwise):
A small network of IRC servers capabale of supporting 5000 simultaneous users
Services to provide User and Channel registration as well as a memo system and of course network security.
Accessed easily with a IRC client like mIRC or Xchat or through 2 existing web interfaces
http://2012info.ca/chat/ or
http://maya.2012info.ca/chat/
Posting of public conversations to a web page for near realtime recording of everything said in main channels (still coding it but will be ready in a week or so)
Anyone want to help build this up?