is there any way that i can mask or hide my i address on mirc be cause i have hered that if people find out ur ip address that they can send a virus to you also han u hide ur local info i have herd that they can allso use that to send viruses and trogens across the internet

Some networks support host/ip hiding... an other way is to get a shell account and get a BNC(bouncer) with a vhost... for more info about shells and BNC's do a search here in the board(if you see up up there is a search button)... and in google...

what are shell acounts and do i have to pay for them

A shell account is an account that gives you remote access to someone elses machine. And yes, you do have to pay for it.

what is a bouncer and how do i get one

Well a "bouncer" still requires a shell, it is not an alternative, it is a program that basically acts as a proxy. You use mIRC to connect to the bouncer, and the bouncer connects to the IRC server. To get one, you download it from a website, such as freshmeat.