Madam, - Why do the Irish media give so little coverage to traditional music, compared to the commercially-driven variety. The voluminous coverage given to the Electric Picnic festival in The Irish Times, for example, contrasts sharply with the scant reporting of the Fleadh Cheoil in Tullamore recently.
More than 200,000 people attended the fleadh. This is the largest gathering at any musical event in Ireland, and possibly the biggest attendance at any traditional music festival in the world. Yet it was largely ignored by the Irish media. Why? Last year, I noted that The Irish Times, Irish Independentand Irish Examinerhad no reports whatever on the Fleadh, save for a brief mention beforehand in a round-up of that weekend's events. This year a report appeared in The Irish Times, primarily excited by Taoiseach Brian Cowen's involvement.
RTÉ TV also gives large-scale coverage of commercial festivals, including live broadcasts at news time. The fleadh was mentioned in a TV news piece, but only after the Festival of World Cultures in Dún Laoghaire.
The thousands who danced and played at the fleadh do not need the Irish media's support: over 200,000 will be there again next year and the years after. Despite the ignorance of others, our music and dance are thriving. But imagine how much more it would flourish if given more coverage, unlike tired old bands like the Sex Pistols, reappearing with their rusty guitars and ladles for another dip in the commercial trough? How often have I heard Irish music crassly referred to as "diddly-eye" on our national airwaves? When did you last hear an Irish ballad or traditional song on daytime national radio? Many people throughout the world marvel at our musical culture, a wonderment clearly not matched here, at least in our media. What a contrast to elsewhere: take Bulgaria, where three television channels broadcast their traditional music 24 hours daily.
I do not advocate monoculturalism, and I love music and culture from across the world, which I savour when I can. But the Irish public seems to be subjected to a monoculturalism determined by those who think they know best, and certainly seem to know nothing about Irish culture. W.B. Yeats was right: "The good are always the merry, save by an evil chance. And the merry love the fiddle and the merry love to dance." He was not writing about the music inspired by fumblings in greasy tills, which appears more important to Ireland's media. - Is mise,
MAIGHRÉAD BEAN UÍ PHLÉIMIONN,
Grange Court,
Rathfarnham,
Dublin 16.