"My experience is that in Ireland song writing about local happenings   "
There's no reason to believe that that was not the case with England Dick
We have recently become aware of hundreds of locally-made songs in Ireland made about local events over the last century
They have always been there but they were neglected because they didn't fit into the recognised traditional reperoire
We know writers like Tommy Armstrong and Joe Corrie were making similar songs in England and Scotland as were weaver poets in Lancashire - there are songs a
bout mowing matches and sporting events in both Britain and
Ireland is a mixture of British and Irish culture and has been for egt centuries
The similarities are far more important than the differences as far as I am concerned
Jim Carroll