Breakneck speeds are the territory of young, immature, showy-offy young bucks, usually fiddle players. The rest of us go to the bar or the bog until they've finished, and if they go on too long we know how to edge them out. Irish tunes are not just bunches of notes. They contain all the rhythm, the tempo and the in-your-head harmony, in the right hands. And that's the hands of the melody players!