Mo, I take your point about folk dancing not being competitive but competition doesn't seem to have killed Irish Set Dancing. And part of the point I was making was that dance and music go together. If you promote the music it can't do dancing anything but good. Plus, on the music side, kids love competitions. Even if they don't win they get a buzz out of being there.

Perhaps part of the reason Irish music and dance seems so much healthier is because it belongs to an emigrant community that is determined to hang on to its identity in a foreign environment. Maybe that's the answer - move Cecil Sharp House to Dublin.