Alec Finn is "English" only by virtue of having been raised in Yorkshire. His parents were Irish, and Finn is an Irish name in case nobody noticed. When he moved back to Ireland in the late '60's he was simply coming home. Had I heeded his invitation to stay and live in Ireland when he was my host in the early 1970's my life would have been infinitely better that it subsequently was in America, but hindsight is 20/20. As to calling him a "second rate accompanist" - this is total nonsense. Alec is recognized as one of the most brilliant and sensitive accompanists in traditional Irish music by a whole host of musicians and afficianados worldwide. If he weren't do you think that as brilliant a fiddler as Frankie Gavin would have played and appeared with him as accompanist for so many years? Whatever this nonsense about "Frankie Gavin and DeDanaan" it strikes me as very unfortunate. Sounds like Gavin's gotten way too full of himself. I was always a major fan of DeDanaan. But I would never go see a band called "Frankie Gavin and DeDanaan". And I am stll and always will be a major fan of Alec Finn, who was kind and hospitable towards me when I was a young American kid hitchiking the backroads of Ireland in 1970.