I run an IRC server you can use, it’s fairly stable but it’s not on redundant connections or anything. It is only two servers right now but we don’t mess with it or anything, it just runs.
My box is a dedicated irc server: 2:28PM up 838 days, 20:54, 1 user, load averages: 0.06, 0.08, 0.08
You can use irc.lfnet.org to connect.
I hang out on #linuxos if anyone wants to drop in.