It has less to do with technical reasons and more that node (and javascript in general) rubs me the wrong way. If the tech works for you then roll with it. Personally I think go works where node is often used, but fits my style of development better.
Not to throw more feature work on you guys, but I always thought it would be neat to have an IRC client email you if someone mentions you while you were away...
The majority of the code is in the front end... so even if you go with a different backend, you have to learn to love JavaScript when doing a project like this ;-)
JS used to really irritate me, but I've grown to appreciate it quite a bit after learning its idioms and getting more practice.
I'm thinking more of a notification. Imagine monitoring a product support channel: if someone mentions you you want to know about it so you can pop into the channel if needed. I don't want to stare at a chat screen all the time.
Alternately, if you don't like Colloquy or don't have an iPhone, I wrote a module called ZNC Push that works with multiple push notification providers, including Boxcar, Prowl, and Notify My Android. I'm also happy to integrate more providers if someone has any requests.
