While what Jim Carroll says about the hard work of those at the Irish Traditional Music Archive to achieve their grants is no doubt spot on, it's still not really comparing like with like, is it? Irish traditional culture is treated with far more respect in Ireland by the powers-that-be than can be said of English tradtional culture, which often seems to be viewed by ministers and grant-making bodies in this country as outdated and irrelevant at best, and a bit of an embarrassment at worst.

You can work your buttocks off to achieve grants, but if those holding the purse strings do not value what you do it's so much piddling in the wind. I suspect that the reasons for the prioritisation of Irish traditional culture have less to do with romantic notions of national pride, and a lot more to do with an acknowledgement of the significant role traditional music and dance plays in tourism and therefore in the economy. Of course this is probably a circular argument, and someone who knows a lot more than me will turn up in a bit and say, "Ah - but how did Irish music and dance achieve that tourism profile to begin with? Government investment!" Feel free to educate me.

I'm not trying to offer solutions. It would be brilliant if one day we had a well-resourced centre such as the one recently opened in Dublin. It would be wonderful if Tessa Jowell demonstrated a commitment to traditional culture by turning up at prestige events - or even just by chucking some money around. But there are all kinds of reasons why that's not likely to happen, and why it's important to support the people within EFDSS that are trying to make changes from within. I think this is a very important time for the society, and deciding its future role, and how best to carry out that role, with a council of volunteers and little support from the government, cannot be easy.

BTW, Kim Howells should be shot.