> the other great advantage of the english concertina is the relative ease of playing octaves ,this of couse can be done and is done by noel hill on the anglo.

And a lot of other people. Playing octaves on the English may be easy, but it is *not* difficult on the anglo. It's one of the fundamental techniques for English anglo players (by which I mean players of English music on the anglo - these words can be so confusing at times)

Anyway, Dick, having just come across this thread the main reason I'm posting is to agree with what I take to be your fundamental thesis that the English concertina is a pretty good instrument for Irish music, and that the way to play it is not to try and imitate the anglo, any more than you would ask a flute player to imitate the anglo. Though the player may choose to be influenced by other instrumental styles and other players the eventual style should be appropriate to the English concertina.

I've not heard English International yet, but I believe my friend Henrik Mueller from Denmark is on it. Now there's a superb player of Irish music on the English concertina. I've heard him playing as a duo with another EC playing friend of mine, Jonathan Taylor of Switzerland, and their performance has been jaw-droppingly good. Perhaps out there on the continent, where there's less self-appointed "experts" happy to tell people what they should or should not play, EC players find it easier to develop their own styles.

Chris