Thanks for that update, Michael. For the benefit of those unfamiliar with the acronyms in the header, NAI stands for National Archives of Ireland, IMC for Irish Manuscripts Commission and NLI for National Library of Ireland. The consensus in our near-bankrupt nation is that the government's cost-saving repository merger plan is a bad one, even 'idiotic' as one sage opined, and it certainly contrasts with the billions being pumped into propping up wayward financial institutions. Yet having observed that the Canadians have created an amalgamated Library and Archives (LAC), I am not so sure that the Irish merger plan should be dismissed out of hand. What are the principal genealogical and heraldic issues arising? At present the NLI and the NAI display very little co-ordination in providing genealogical services, and perish the thought that they should be obliged to work more closely together and avoid wastage of resources in these straitened times. While an essential project, the NAI's insistence on undertaking the 'free' digitisation of the 1901 and 1911 Censuses at a cost of €4.6 million was, I won't say idiotic, but hard to justify, and clearly exacerbated the neglect of its core duties and resource problems (last Director's report is dated 2006). Even if one objects to the idea of commercial interests such as Ancestry.com undertaking digitisation of Irish records, as is the most common mode in Britain and America, the Mormon FamilySearch was ready and willing to proceed with truly free digitisation (I discount any alleged spiritual costs). A Freedom of Information request has revealed that the Genealogical Society of Utah informed the NAI that it was 'indexing the 1901 Census, and expect to have it completed by the end of 2007'. Why did this project, which would have cost the Irish taxpayer nothing, not proceed? Let us turn now to heraldry, an admittedly more minority interest, if one excludes the mania for spurious 'family crests' and 'clan arms'. It does appear unlikely that the NLI's old Genealogical Office/Office of the Chief Herald would be exactly replicated in a new setup, which for want of a better term I will call 'Library and Archives Ireland'. The Chief Herald's office throughly discredited itself by validating Terence MacCarthy 'Mór' and a number of other fantasists and hoaxers (http://homepage.eircom.net/%7Eseanjmurphy/irhismys/maccarthy.htm). Although many are unaware of the fact or in denial, it remains the case that in the wake of the MacCarthy Mór affair it was discovered that the Chief Herald had no legal power to grant arms from 1943 until 2005 at least, and possibly even from that date until the recent suspension of grants. Yes, grants of arms to US Presidents Kennedy and Clinton and Irish Presidents Robinson and McAleese, as well as to many others, are without legal validity and would require a complex retrospective statute to be regularised, which again would not be perceived to be a pressing matter by our legislators. Following the recent retirement of the Chief Herald, the office lies with a stake through its heart, although there are some working hard to extract it and breathe life back into the corpse. Let us of course not forget the records affected by this debate. As well as frontline records such as church registers and census substitutes, the NLI holds the old archive of Ulster's Office (see my article at http://homepage.eircom.net/%7Eseanjmurphy/studies/ulster.pdf). While perceived as a rather remote academic body which should have been more to the fore with digitisation, serious genealogists will not overlook the IMC's various published calendars and editions of older records. In addition again to material such as census returns, and despite the terrible loss of archives in 1922, the NAI holds a remarkable range of records, which I have endeavoured to describe in a short guide designed to supplement the repository's still rather patchy website: http://homepage.eircom.net/%7Eseanjmurphy/nai/ To take just one surviving class of records, the Chief Secretary's Office Registered Papers, I have used these to track the pig-stealing father of Ned Kelly and even the villains who stole the Irish Crown Jewels from Ulster's Office (http://homepage.eircom.net/%7Eseanjmurphy/irhismys/jewels.htm). These are all records whose digitisation needs to be commenced, speeded up or completed properly, but the NLI, NAI and IMC as they stand are not equal to the task. Hence the need to respond more constructively to the government's amalgamation plan and as far as possible to influence its content and the way in which it is executed. Admittedly one has little faith in the cultural depth of the present Irish administration, but I am equally appalled by some of the various interests currently hollering for more resources to be thrown at the existing costly and inefficient system of caring for our record heritage. Sean Murphy Centre for Irish Genealogical and Historical Studies http://homepage.eircom.net/~seanjmurphy/ > A Chairde, > > The following Parliamentary Question and Written Answer of Tuesday > 20th April 2010 may be of interest: > > (TEXT) > > National Library. > > PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION: 627. Deputy Phil Hogan (Fine Gael) asked > the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the cost base analysis > carried out that led to the decision to merge the National Archives > with the National Library of Ireland; the results of this analysis; > and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15333/10] > > REPLY: Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism (Deputy Mary Hanafin): > The basis on which the decision to merge the National Archives and the > Irish Manuscripts Commission into the National Library was the > consideration that more effective use of scare resources and better > value for money can be obtained by combining similar ’back office’ > administrative functions together with certain technical functions > that are currently common across the three bodies. > > (END TEXT) > > Further info. on the Oireachtas see: www.oireachtas.ie and on the > Genealogical Society of Ireland see: www.familyhistory.ie > > The Society's position on this merger proposal is outlined in the > current issue of 'Ireland's Genealogical Gazette' see: > http://www.docstoc.com/docs/33747300/ > > Mise le meas, > > Michael Merrigan > General Secretary > GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY OF IRELAND > www.familyhistory.ie