If u /hop in a channel mirc doesn't set the IAL for your nick for some reason, but if u do it manually by /parting the channel and then /joining it works fine
e.g. type /hop in the channel and when u rejoined //echo -a $ial($me) and it won't work
then type //part # | raw join # and when u rejoined //echo -a $ial($me) and it will work