Categories/Page Links spread out over multiple columns

Hi

I am having tremendous fun converting wordpress into a customised CMS, but now I’m down to my final challenge.

I don’t want my Categories links in the sidebar, but
rather have them at the bottom of my page in 3 columns.

e.g. NOT

———-
———-
———-
———-
———-
———-
———-
———-

(e.g. as per usual in the sidebar)

BUT rather:

————- ————- ————-
————- ————- ————-
————- ————- ————-
————- ————- ————-
————- ————- ————-

(i.e. in the footer of a page rather than in the sidebar)

The reason why is because I plan to have a LONG list of categories, and I don’t want the page to go on forever as a result of being confined to 1 column in the sidebar.

At the moment, I cannot work out how to do it.

I know there was talk of CSS3 coming out with a multi-column feature, but my site needs to be compatible across browsers.

Is there any way of doing this with PHP? The problem is coding it in such a way that the links list starts a new column once a third of the links have been called.

I’m sure I am missing an obvious and simple solution. Can anybody help me find it??

I’m sure many other WordPress users would find this feature useful too – especially for those looking to WordPress as a fat-free CMS.

Regards
Max