At last some good news from our Government thanks to the Canadian Government telling them how to do it. The following appeared in The Irish Times today. Census information from the early 20th century will be available on the Internet from next year, following an agreement between Canada and Ireland. Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism John O'Donoghue signed an agreement between the National Archives of Ireland and Library and Archives Canada, which will see the Irish census records for 1901 , and 1911 digitised and placed online. Access will be free and interest is expected from many Canadians, 13per cent of whom claim Irish ancestry. Census records are currently only available at the National Archives in Dublin. The three-year project will allow anyone to search for an Irish ancestor quickly and easily. People will also be able to access historical information and images. Information will be available from December 2006. The census records contain the name, sex, marital status, occupation, and county and country of birth of everyone listed in every dwelling in the country including houses prisons hospitals, military barracks and industrial schools.They also include details on each person's literary level ability to speak Irish number of years women were married and the total number of children born Though the first full government census was taken in 1821,the 1901 census is the earliest surviving. Other censuses were destroyed mainly in the fire of 1922 at the Public Records Office