Dick,

Can I clarify something with you? You keep saying that the efdss "are supposed to be international when it comes to song" . I don't know where this comes from or exactly what you mean by it?

It's the English Folk Dance and (English Folk) Song Society. Of course people who research under the efdss banner consider English song in context (ie. with regard to how it relates to Scotland, Wales, Ireland, US/Canada, Oz and the Caribbean, etc - ie. where the variants are found) but that's different from being 'international'.

With regard to 'hiring the house to other comhaltas branches' , we certainly wouldn't turn the trade away. We 'invite' as many people as possible to hire the House but surely it's up to the Comhaltas to hire if they have a need - I don't know if they even need to hire a venue. It's a nice idea but it's beyond our control.

You seem to have an odd idea of how things work.

It's approaching midnight here in Oz and as I write this, a kookaburra is competing with the sound of a blues band playing at a neighbour's barby. Happy New Year to you and all Mudcatters who are reading this thread.

J