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Rezzing this thread, because the issue doesn't seem resolved yet and I finally got around to figuring out IRC.
We'd need a channel, and for that we'd need to choose a network. CDDA runs on FreeNode, I've had a bit of experience in Quakenet, but for the most part all IRC networks are the same with some small differences usually regarding built-in bots.
After we pick a network, we need a channel. And a channel needs a name. #UtterlyMad works fine if that's okay with everyone. After that, we need some kind of bot or someone really dedicated to stay in the channel all the gosh dang time. If a channel is empty, it gets deleted from the list and everything associated with it (chat logs, admin information, probably bans) goes away.
Once that's all set up, we should have a proper IRC channel up and running 24/7. Hoo-raaay.