Oh dear. Here we go again. How come every time someone opens a thread about the EFDSS it turns into a shouting match about Comhaltas.

Still, while I'm here...

Martin, I'm not sure about 'Parish Rivalry' having a lot to do with music. Football or hurling, perhaps, but if that were the case you wouldn't expect people to travel to play at sessions, which they have been doing for years.

I agree that traditional music isn't about being the winner or the loser at the fleadh, but the great thing about the fleadhanna is the social side. Kids (and adults) form and rekindle lifelong friendships. I don't know that EFDSS provides that opportunity.

I've got a lot of time for Jim Carroll but his attitude seems to be 'Comhaltas is corrupt and who needs it anyway'. On the first point, maybe some individuals are - I don't know and I haven't seen any information on this thread or any other that has conviced me one way or the other. On the second point, well, yes, Irish music can get along perfectly well at the moment without it - Comhaltas is no longer the only game in town and the only point of entry into the music for those who want to learn it. This wasn't always the case, however.

Lately I've been looking hard at the Scottish Feisean movement. This, it seems to me, to be one way forward without the excesses and obsession with form, style or 'correctness' that you get in both Comhaltas and some areas on English music. I was at the London Feis in September 2007 and it was brilliant. No competitions, no adjudications, just the chance to learn and play music with people from all sorts of backgrounds united by their love of it, without all the baggage we sometimes carry round with us in Comhaltas.

There are also feisean throughout the year in Scotland, including junior feisean. The London event comprised lessons, workshops, a ceili, a concert and a dedicated 'slow session' where everyone (including the tutors) played sets at a slower pace to give everyone the chance to be included. It was the best weekend's music I'd had for years and I'd recommend it to anyone. Also, check out www.feisean.org.

For me, as a Comhaltas branch chairman, this is increasingly looking like the way to go and we're making preliminary plans at the moment to hold something similar in the North-West of England next summer - early days yet, though - with the intention of encompassing both Scottish and Irish traditions, bearing in mind the region's proximity to the North of Ireland (which sends hundreds of students to the North-West of England each year). I'll let you know.