This thread started about a musician playing in an (unpaid) session on a voluntary basis. There were no paying punters involved.

By refusing to turn down the volume on the TV set the publican (bar owner/ Manager) made a choice that he did not care whether the mucsicians could be heard or not. Many publicans will make that choice, and there may be sound (no pun intended) commercial reasons for them to do so. But having mader that choice he/she should not expect musicians to come and entertain the customers for free in that particular pub.

Although a lot of pubs are closing down in Dublin, there are still thankfully some places where they are delighted to have musicians come and play. It makes sense for musicians to go and play in these places and not put up with disrespect from people who don't appreciate them.

Someone mentioned smoky pubs earlier. At least that's one problem we did away with in Ireland a couple of years back.