HANDS up who'd like another report on the Irish music industry? Go on, you know you'd love one.

Such reports appeared almost annually over a decade, each with reams of recommendations about what could be done to give the domestic music industry a shove in the right direction. Without fail, each report called for the establishment of a board to lobby the Government on behalf of the industry.

In 2001, former Minister for the Arts Silé De Valera gave in and set up the Music Board of Ireland as an industry forum. It was to be funded jointly by the department and Ibec's Music Industry Group, and all involved said it would do great things. But the board ran out of ideas, steam and money and was quietly knocked on the head by John O'Donoghue last July.

There have been some half- hearted attempts to fill the gap: attempts are ongoing to establish an Irish version of the UK's Association of Independent Music, while the Music from Ireland initiative seems to be more of a Arts Council-backed promotional campaign for selected indie acts than a cohesive, industry-wide concern. But few in the industry here have cause to lament the board's demise.

The silence on the issue only serves to confirm the decision to terminate the board. As files released under the Freedom of Information Act show, the Music Board of Ireland never made a strong enough case for funding. One departmental memo refers to the "internal contradiction" in the board's argument to be put on a statutory footing.

"Again and again, it is stated that the Irish music industry does well, that it boxes above its weight," the memo points out. "If this is the case, what problem are we trying to rectify by putting in place a whole frame- work of supports? There is no evidence of market failure here."

There was a belief among officials that the board's estimates of proposed returns from Government expenditure were speculative. "We have no way of knowing whether by spending X, the Board can generate Y jobs or make a difference of Y to the National Economy annually." The department also found it "not terribly surprising" that "a report commissioned by the Music Board concludes that the Board should continue to exist and that the Board's proposed programmes would be worthwhile".

This sorry charade established that the Department of Arts and, by extension, the Government,

had no interest in developing, strengthening or exploiting the cultural and economic advantages of the popular music industry. So any further attempt by industry groups to lobby the Government is a waste of time, effort and resources.

This game was lost at the outset. By ensuring that the Music Board was nothing more than a toothless talking shop, the music industry blew it. An opportunity had finally presented itself to establish a truly representative, dynamic and strong lobby group, but the Irish industry's inherent conservatism put paid to that notion.

Compliance rather than controversy was to be the board's watchword. Because it was a body more concerned with talk, planning and reporting than with taking action, the Music Board managed to undo what little advances had been made by the industry. That's as good an epitaph as any to sum up this fiasco.