Interesting that in all the youtube vids of Jackie Daly he notably taps his foot much faster when playing polkas than he does when he plays reels.

Interesting that he also gets through the A and B part of a polka in less time than he does the A and B part of a reel.

Interesting that In all the social dance videos I can find on youtube, the dancers appear to be dancing faster to polkas than they do reels. In the various discussions on tempo in Irish music I can find via google, everyone says polkas are faster than reels (and nobody says reels are faster than polkas).

Indeed you yousellf play reels at a lower BPM (metronome setting) than you do polkas. You are the only person I've ever heard of who says a higher metronome setting can mean a lower tempo!