Good Night Marie, I've to go to Dublin on the 7am bus, so I won't be available for sparring till the weekend. Paul ----- Original Message ----- From: "Nik Leach" <nik.leach@blueyonder.co.uk> To: <IRL-WICKLOW-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, September 06, 2005 12:40 AM Subject: Re: [Wicklow] "professional" genealogist > Hello Paul, > > I hope you don't mind me addressing you directly on a public forum but, as > our debate has so far been conducted on the board and others have also > participated, I thought it more appropriate than approaching you off-list. > > I'm sorry that you have taken exception to my remarks about fees paid to > professionals. I can assure you that they were in no way directed at you > personally, nor to any of your colleagues in the field. > > My point in referring to fees at all was to highlight the economic > difficulties that many, less fortunate, people can experience when they > choose to embark upon their family history investigations. It was also > raised within the context of my remarks about the digitising of various > records and making them more easily accessible to the general public. > > I know personally many unemployed, elderly, and sick or disabled people, > most of whom have to rely upon some very meagre state benefits. I also come > into contact with many youngsters, studying under the burden of student > loans, who similarly struggle in their daily lives. There are any number of > internet users who find themselves in like circumstances. You mention fees > paid to various other professionals - and herein lies the shame. In the UK > people's dental health, in particular, is being sadly neglected because more > and more dentists are no longer taking on NHS patients, who then simply > cannot afford the fees to go private - so their teeth rot. Lawyers' and > accountants' fees are largely irrelevant to the class of people I've alluded > to - they don't employ them. > > Obviously, I have no way of knowing how many people on the internet > suffering these disadvantages are actually engaged in family history > research, but I have had several email conversations with a fair number who > are. For people in their circumstances, even a reasonable fee will be > beyond their reach. > > There are, of course, those who would prefer to do their own research and > again, bearing in mind my intended context, the releasing of official > records into the public domain - via the net or in CD format - would be a > godsend. > > I trust this explanation on my part will alleviate any doubts you may have > as to my intentions. Perhaps I should have referred, in general terms, to > the costs that can be incurred (and accrued!) in setting out on this > pursuit, rather than using the word "professional?" > > Thank you very much for clarifying the situation regarding the Wicklow > Family History Centre and the three different services that are available > within the genealogy field. In view of what you say, it looks like I'll > have an awful lot of "foot slogging" to do once I finally get down to > thoroughly tracing my Irish ancestors! > > Thanks for the discussion, Paul. I hope others have found it interesting > too. > > Best wishes, > Marie. > > ----- Original Message ----- > > > Marie wrote:<snip> > > > > ==== IRL-WICKLOW Mailing List ==== > SUBJECT LINE~ Make it catch the eye of the reader, > Body of the mail add as much information as you can > > ============================== > Search the US Census Collection. Over 140 million records added in the > last 12 months. Largest online collection in the world. Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13965/rd.ashx > > >

Wretched Internet!!! People keep keeping me awake! A very goodnight to you too Paul. Take care. Marie. ----- Original Message ----- > Good Night Marie,<snip>