"I hope there will be a way of hearing your programmes for Irish radio, to redress the balance."
I hope so too - but I hope for a bit more than that.
Singing in Ireland has some way to go before it catches up with the popularity of the instrumental music.
Coming back from Oxford, Paula (the producer) and I got into a somewhat intense discussion on how things might be improved (much to the consternation of the other passengers) - Paula is a singer, deeply involved in broadcasting music and song
Some interesting things are taking place - the Goilín Club and the Inishowen people have put up their considerable collections on line, our Clare collection goes up shortly.
On top of this, The National Library is promoting Child Ballads via a series of public performances.
To date, teaching seems largely limited to passing out texts and getting pupils to read from them, with a few singers generous enough to dedicate time to holding classes.
I've always been convinced that the self-help system is one well worth re-trying - who knows
Jim Carroll