Hello All, I have no problem with a Heritage centre opening up in West Cork. I would gladly welcome one.The problem I have is having to pay outrageous amounts for it. In the ref. library in Cork city (1901 census)on the notice board is a notice asking for volunteers with good handwriting and an interest in genealogy to help with the indexing of parish records for Cork and Ross. What expense is this? We have tourist offices throughout Ireland ....... these aren't generating income directly but of course can be a great help to visiting tourists. If the parish records were not on line but available for researchers here this would encourage visitors and of course listers would be more than willing to help our overseas friends. In England and Wales archivists search records ...and at the moment I am awaiting photocopies from the 1700's to arrive at the Grand cost of �5.90 sterling. As I say "Rip off Ireland" One last thing..... would listrs please try and refrain from giving the impression that we have no interest in Genealogy at all. Many of us do and yes.....some priests feel they are plagued by requests from all over the world to look up records.Some are excellent and we all know how vague requests can be a tad annoying. I know many who go to great efforts to help researchers out, particularly those overseas. At the end of the day...... most researchers know that people are being ripped off by heritage centre charges...as Dennis pointed out.... the centres do not even provide full time employment. Best regards, Kevin, Co Cork,Ireland. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Find the home of your dreams with eircom net property Sign up for email alerts now http://www.eircom.net/propertyalerts