The fact that most people don't want to hear this kind of music is not the point. The BBC's charter is about educating and entertaining. So why not educate the masses?

And if you think that the masses don't want to hear this kind of music tell me why are Irish theme pubs so popular in england with all of that piped diddly diddly music going on?

The rouble is that by and large the english are ashamed of their cultural heritage - they ridicle the morris dance basically because they don't understand it ...that is where he BBC should come in.

I also wonder just how unpopular it actually is and if more people heard it would it be more popular? - an example would be the Corrs just look how popular they were a couple of years ago, not to mention Bewitched and any of the out of Ireland pop bands that have a hint of the tradition about their music.

Don't think that because a mnority attend festivals etc that it is an unpoopular genre. I think we'd all be suprised if it had more air time.