No I'm not childless, as I have a son who will be 36 on 23rd of this month. Even now I regard him as my responsibility, as I helped bring him into the world, and am thereby responsible for the effect he has on our planet. I know all the arguments about children being the support of the next generation, but in some ways that is as logical as the MAD theory of avoiding nuclear war. We live longer these days, and therefore require support for longer, which logistically means more children working and paying taxes. It's an inflationary spiral, and logic dictates that at some point we are going to have to grasp the nettle, and limit population. I still fimly believe that all people should pay for events, and goods, things got for nothing are less, and sometimes not at all appreciated.
I know that some folk festivals are expensive, this is usually because they have expensive guests.
I know that this is a divisive subject, and it will set the old against the young, and the parents against the childless, but I totally disagree with the statement in the first contribution to this thread, i.e. Parents are subsidising the childless, that is like shitting the bed and blaming the blanket.
Failte....Giok.
" For the family of man, keeps growing"