People are supporting Flute, which is quite right. All should be encouraged to join in sessions.

But can I put another view on this. I would guess (correct me if I'm wrong) that Flute may have been playing a Boehm flute, and may have learned it "classically". Now, the styles used in Irish trad and Classical music are quite different, the one emphasising fluidity and continuity, the other crispness of articulation.

Because in the view of most people, the classical way is the 'right' way, the traditional style is often perceived as simply not playing it properly. So a traditional musician, hearing someone play a traditional tune in classical style, may assume that the player is trying to assert the 'superiority' of this more formal style. And react accordingly. Wrong, but has to be put in context.

Advice- listen to traditional traditional flute players, Tansey, McGoldrick etc. and try to follow that style in spirit, even if you can't get the details to begin with.

The ornaments ARE important, in fact Irisg=h music has been described as a sequence of ornaments connected by pints of stout.