Sessions are still open to the public, aren't they? What's the mechanism for excluding people you don't like?

This is one of the reasons I rarely go to sessions. Too many people (on all instruments) who don't know how to play in a session. Mix them together with the all-too-common pedantic session police and it often turns into a scene I don't want to be part of. Living room sessions are so much nicer.

Lumping all bones and bodhran players together is sort of dumb. Yes, you can learn to make noise on a bodhran in half and hour, but, like any other instrument, it will take a LOT longer than that to learn to play it. A good bones or bodhran player is a joy to behold -- just like good players on any other instrument. Perhaps you could have auditions for sessions?