Cap'n
EFDSS is a national organisation, not a London based club - whether they are fulfilling their role as such is worthy of discussion.
Comhaltas is an international organisation - whether they are fulfilling that role is also worthy of discussion.
I would be fascinated to hear your comments on Labrat's report, which was presented to the Irish Parliament in 1999. Not having anybody to judge it's validity (other than the author), it was rubber stamped, but, following a storm of protest from musicians and researchers throughout the country, the minister was forced to receive oral submissions from the protesters (totally unprecedented for a parliamentary report).
The report has now been shelved in embarrassment as it was widely recognised as being little more than a blatant piece of Comhaltas empire - building. Read it and weep - your branch should have a copy!
MacColl
I still don't know how many times you saw Ewan and Peg perform and with what authority you describe their performance, so I have to conclude your description of their 'political cabaret' is very much a part of the 'Chinese Whispers' game that has been running at least since I became involved in the music.
Nor do you in any way attempt to substantiate your inference that they only collected songs that suited their politics, so I assume that is also part of the same exercise.
I wonder how long he has to be dead before people stop dancing on his grave.
Of course they only wrote and sang songs that they agreed with; except where projects they were involved in called for them to do otherwise - we've already has one eejit on Mudcat pointing out that MacColl once recorded a song on the Riverside series which praises Queen Victoria - any stick to beat a dead dog, I suppose. They'd have to be schizophrenics to do promote songs that they didn't agree with - do you?
Jim Carroll