Life has taught me that in every group of people there is going to be at least one self-opinionated, "I'm god's gift" gobshite and the students at Newcastle are no exception. The majority, however, are just like students anywhere with the exception that they are all extremely gifted in their chosen field. If the course can harness that talent, encourage it and point it in the right direction then surely it has succeeded in helping to perpetuate the tradition and given these young people a fighting chance to survive the pitfalls of the world in which they have chosen to make their living. As for them "undermining the folk tradition," surely common sense would tell you that they're not going to set out to destroy the thing that they love. My experience of the "young folk tradition" has been very positive and it's obvious that they are beginning to ruffle a few feathers amongst those who perhaps perceive some sort of threat. Good luck to them all,I say, it's a hard road they've chosen and some encouragement wouldn't go amiss to help them on their way.