noreen, i did a workshop today and every child (there were 11) told me they were going to sing "the month of january" in the fleadh. I pity the adjudicator!!2 of my own pupils are singing "the green linnet" and "Donal Og", in the same age group 12-15. I, like you never had much need for lively songs when i came up through the ranks, thankfully. The idea of adding lively songs to the singing competition was ok in principle ie to stop them dying out. However, in comparison to the standard of ballads, the lively songs i hear are very poor. too many times i've been faced with an excellent performance of a ballad and a fair to middling lively song - they just don't suit everyone, and i would love to see that addressed.