Ireland's first traditional music syllabus was launched yesterday by the President, Mrs McAleese, in Dublin Castle.
Presented in association with the Royal Irish Academy of Music and Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann, and supported by PMPA Insurance, the traditional Irish music syllabus will operate as part of the academy's local centre examination system.
It is the first in Ireland and provides musicians of all ages with a structured set of examinations in traditional instruments from beginner to advanced level. The academy said it would not only raise the standard of traditional music performance in Ireland, but would give students of this form "an examinable and structured goal to aim towards".
The syllabus also had an international dimension. Given the huge numbers of people allied to Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann abroad, its launch in other countries, particularly in Britain and the US, would occur in the near future.
The first set of examinations will be held in summer 1999. The director of RIAM, Dr John O'Conor, and the director general of Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann, Senator Labhras O Murchu, will promote the syllabus in a tour around the State.