I'm pleased that this debate on 'innovation' in traditional Irish music is taking place in public and I think it's appropriate that the venue is here in Temple Bar, where there is such a concentration of new thought in so many fields of Irish Art.

I want to say at the outset that I regard traditional music as an important part of the Irish artistic landscape and this music deserves to be taken as seriously as any other sector. I say this because it has been my experience over many years that our native music and song has generally been regarded as entertainment of a fairly primitive nature.

Underlying the affection of a large section of the public for it, is a preconception - that apart from its entertainment value, traditional music has little of artistic importance to offer. More importantly, its value in terms of addressing the spiritual desert that covers much of the western world today, including Ireland, remains unexplored.

I'd also like to say that opinions I express on this subject are my own and are based on my many years apprenticeship as a listener to musicians and singers whose paths I was fortunate to cross in my life. Much of what I have to say is based on what I have observed and learned from them . They were people of artistic modesty and generosity of spirit, larger-than-life characters who inspired us, taught us and lit up our lives.

They were people whose memory I cherish.... Seamus Ennis of Fingal, Ellen Galvin, of Moyasta in Clare, Joe Heaney and Sean O Conaire of Carna and Rosmuc, Tommy Potts of Dublin, John Doherty of Glencolmcille, Martin Rochford , John Kelly and Micho Russell of Clare.