Joe Kennedy, pipe maker living in Woodstock, Southern Ontario:"I needed to get my hands on a decent set of pipes so I corresponded by post with Geoff Wooff, a pipe maker living in the west of Ireland. It takes me about a year to make a full set of pipes, so I have a waiting list of about six years - and that's helped by the fact that I have someone who supplies me with kiln-dried wood.

"I think the course is a great idea because the technology and the skills need to be passed on. I only wish I had such a course. It would have saved me years of pulling my hair out! I find it very humbling to look and listen to pipes I made when I started. You're constantly growing; you never stop learning."

Cillian Ó Briain, Dingle-based pipe maker

"It's uncharted waters [ the pipe makers' course] so it's hard to predict how it will work, but certainly it's very hard to get a decent instrument these days, and demand far outstrips supply. I have a waiting list of 10 years, and I count it a good year if I produce three full sets of pipes.

"People are always looking for something more robust and reliable but what I've learned is that you might go off and try something new, but you end up returning to the traditional methods ultimately. It often shows the merits of the traditional design.

"Nobody's going to do a pipe-making course to make money!"