A breath of reality, thanks Peter Laban.
People in the UK have an image of Ireland being a land of traditional music- the reality is that visitors find very little unless they go to the real hotbeds (come in jim Carroll).

Likewise, Ireland has the same problems as UK after MANY more years of right wing government. Fianna Fail is just as arrogant and irresponsible as the UK Tories, and Fine Gael only marginally less so.
Ireland DOES have a sensible PR electoral system which allows left wingers like Paul Murphy and Ruth Coppinger a voice against Varadkar and his vile crew.
However unlike UK, where the farmers' lobby is critical, there is NO hope of any kind of social democratic government in Ireland.

If you want to hear about the social horrors of 21st century Ireland, nb you often need a strong stomach, just listen to Joe Duffy's phone-in every day about 2pm on RTE radio 1. It's not the easy-going, generous, forward looking paradise portrayed by Bord Failte !
And as for the music, it's true that the young folks are playing it more than in England, but like the UK, is anyone learning there's more to it than sitting with your pals, playing the notes from manuscript!!