John
My picture is a national one, the grants are still coming from The Arts Council of Ireland, the almost nightly programmes are largely on National television and radio - the fortunes of traditional music - without compromise) is an Irish one.
We have 2 national Traditional archives (one - ITMA putting material on line regularly) which of of world class and a gradual blossoming of local archives - one in Clare (see OaC on the web).
I have lived in 3 of the largest cities in Britain (Liverpool, Manchester and London) and know the problems of presenting folk music in an urban setting, but please don't make it an excuse for compromising our traditional music out of existance.
Jim Carroll