If the folk process has effectively "ceased to operate" as you say, Mr Radish, (and please don't get silly about the name) yet it remains part of the 1954 definition, then how can any 'new' songs become folk songs under said definition?

Effectively ceased to operate, more or less ceased to operate, ceased to operate except in a few areas - take your pick. There's room for a certain amount of optimism about contemporary songs going into the Snelgrove Process - just not very much.

where do people get to sing these songs so that they may "evolve and change"?

No, Sminky, not in Folk Clubs - the Snelgrove Process isn't going to get out of bed for a Folk Club. Where people sing with their workmates during the day and sing with their friends in the evening - ordinary people who wouldn't dream of going to a Folk Club - that's where the Snelgrove Process happens.

What's that, Skippy? Most people don't do that kind of thing any more? Well, stone me.