Cynical I am, but IMO it's just a case of the right kind of marketing

Ah Crowsister, I've just thought of one aspect with the Irish tunes that I know did not only affect me in this forum that I don't think can be directly put down to "marketing".

Please don't get me wrong in this as I am neither putting any tune down or claiming any nations folk tunes are "superior". Nor am I'm claiming my own playing skills are any more than "get by" in events I go to or that there may not be plenty of English tunes I'd never get my fingers round.

I think what happened with some of us was along the lines of you had learned the Winster Gallop, Harvest Home, Jimmy Allen, etc. and perhaps wanted something to move on to as a player from there. Listening to the Irish music offered "challenges" that did not exist in the English tunes we knew so we wound up making musical decisions rather than decisions led by any "mainstream" lead.