My experience of tourists has been very good,99 percent sit quietly appreciate the music and clap.
I have only had one bad experience, this was a person who played along with random notes on a harmonica , I was forced to ask him to desist.
The vast majority of irish people are very friendly,and welcoming to other musicians, as are the musicians.
when i lived in Suffolk,I got to know John and Julia Clifford, they were very friendly, and encouraged me to play traditional irish music,AND were happy to play tunes with most people, Julia ADVISED me that I should stick to playing irish trad on my concertina rather thanpeices like woodland flowers.
in my experence older traditional musicians did not have the precious attitude that is now becoming prevalent, neither did they have the competitive attitude that seems to be a recent phenomenon, possibly a result of Comhaltas Competitions.
are the attitudes of certain posters on this thread typical, I think not, most of the unwelcoming on this thread are not even irish