"his provocations frequently bring about fertile discussion, as you'd see if you read that thread over there which contains his remark. Yah Boo on this topic is wide of the mark, I think."

I read it. Some informed comment, some prejudiced nonsense, some bizarre digressions (orang-utans? TV remotes?). A bit like here, in fact. Devil's Advocacy notwithstanding, I still find the quoted remarks boneheaded and deliberately offensive. I've shared my (English) music with some pretty good Irish musicians in my time, and most of them were simply enthused by the tunes, rather than sneering about middle class revivals.

"Remember The Tree Inn Folk Club, Brian? I won one of your vinyl albums in the raffle! :-)"

Congratulations, Steve! At least you chose the album, rather than the packet of biscuits (that did happen to me once). The Tree Inn...? Must have been a while ago... Bude or somewhere like that?