Sorry Dick, Sandy McLean said everything that needs to be said far better than I (or anyone else, I suspect) could.
Comhaltas is living proof (if that's the right description for, as Breandan Breathnach once described it, "An organisation with a wonderful future behind it), of the damage the competition ethic can do to the music.
I saw literally hundreds of youngsters abandon the music in the UK because they got sucked into the competition thing and didn't win anything.
It can never be about winning, especially for youngsters who are self concious enough already without being told that what they are doing isn't good enough.
When the Willie Clancy Summer School was established at the beginning of the 70s there was pressure from CCE to base it on competitions; the organisers resisted and went oun without their support.
The CCE branch here has just stumbled back into life after 20 years absence - this year the WCSS catered for all traditional instruments to capacity attendance, and next year will be holding its fortieth annual school.
Speaks for itself really   
Jim Carroll