I think, by and large, the reduction in numbers is due to an aging population. Whichever folk club I go to nowadays I am often one of the younger ones. And I'm 66! If we cannot get youngsters involved the participants will naturally die off :-( Unfortunately I don't have the answer to that one but Jim has mentioned that Ireland's program to get the young more involved is working. I can't see the present government doing anything to help with that though. They couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery.