"there isn't really any evidence of anything illegal."
Neither is there evidence to the contrary - CCE is such a closed shop that even Labhras' closest collegues have been unable to find out how much he or his wife earns (see Breandán's earlier posting) - I don't know any politicians with that privilege.
I asked if CCE have a library - and received no reply. If they have, where is it housed and what access is there to it; if they haven't - did they return the grant they received to establish one?
It is inconceivable that a music organisation can exist for over half a century without either a library or sound archive, yet I have been unable to discover the existence of either.
"Are charities [in Ireland] not required to keep books and publish accounts,"
I don't know - they certainly are in the UK. If they aren't in Ireland, how else are we to know that the large sums of public money aren't being misused or misappropriated?   
"Labhras's personality is a two-edged sword,"
I am not interested in Labhras's personality (though I was interested to note that you appear to be familiar with it). I am interested in the fact that he appears to be answerable to no-one.
"His hand in the public purse, for the most part, has helped the music thrive."
That is not the case. Twenty odd years ago Irish music could have disappeared without the existence of CCE. Now it is surviving very well without - some would say, in spite of it. Don't take my word for it - read Labhras's Oireachtais report on Irish music, which was even unacceptable to his political collegues and had to be shelved. I'll happily supply you with some of the many protests that greeted its publication.
Beandán Breathnach put it beautifully when he described Comhaltas as "an organisation with a great future behind it".
"if there were a Labhras-like figure in the UK, the funding situation for traditional music might be better."
This appears to assume that the money received is being spent wisely - while some of us believe it isn't - the extreme secrecy surrounding CCEs finances make it impossible to discover whether our suspicions are correct or not.
The point of this thread is that Labhras is answerable to nobody, CCE membership, the taxpayer, his own committee. He is a political appointee for life, should wish to be. The situation appears to exist that if he wakes up tomorrow morning, spills his coffee, burns his toast and stubs his toe - he can expel a couple of branches to make himself feel better. The sad thing is that many rank and file members will support his doing so.
Jim Carroll