Comhaltas

MTGuru · Post by **MTGuru** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 4:51 am

Sure Ben, I can imagine. I'm far too ignorant of the particulars to wield a partisan opinion. But this is an interesting thread, and the situation reinforces some of my preconceptions about the way Comhaltas operates. If Clontarf have the facts on their side, and HQ have much to hide, I'd think an open neutral accounting would greatly benefit the aggrieved party. And the sooner the better for the membership caught in the middle.

Cayden · Post by **Cayden** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 4:57 am

With discussions raging on different fronts like thesession.org and mudcat, a lot of information is available.

The only 'ordinary' members of the organisation, as far as I can see, suffering are those who found their branch dissolved and the fruit of their labours taken away from them.

The point has been made over and over that the general behaviour exhibited here by the Comhaltas HO is not at all unprecedented. It fits a pattern that can be seen throughout the history of the organisation. It has happened before and will happen again if the members of the organisation put up with it.

Roger O'Keeffe · Post by **Roger O'Keeffe** » Sun Apr 06, 2008 3:53 pm

I would tend to be disposed to believe anything bad about Comhaltas HQ and its leader (being myself a long-standing member of the schismatic church of NPU).

But before anyone gets too carried away on this thread, I suggest you all read the Mudcat thread (and thanks to Peter for pointing to it), in which Breandán (aka "b" on the less-informative Session.org thread) declares his interest from the outset, but tries to put fairly the case for CCE HQ, and admits quite openly that the organisation has been appallingly remiss in not setting out its side of the story.

emer · Post by **emer** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 3:06 am

by all means read Breandán's comments - but do bear in mind that he works for Comhaltas HO and their responses to date are still spinning so rapidly that they are difficult to read!
Last Friday night I attended a fundraiser for Clontarf Comhaltas - aka the 'Reel Branch'.
Place was packed out, standing room only - Performers included John Kelly and family, Mick O'Brien and family, Neillidh Mulligan, Nollaig Mac Carthaigh, Kevin and Seamus Glackin, Catherine McEvoy, Clontarf Comhaltas junior players, Fintan Vallelly, Liam O'Connor, Sean McKeon and so many more that I can't remember, went on to 1.30am, wonderful night, a lot of support from other branches.
Without a doubt, Clontarf Comhaltas Branch will be around for a long time yet.
worth noting that the point was made by a speaker that Clontarf Comhaltas enjoy being in Comhaltas, want to be in Comhaltas, and intend to be in Comhaltas.

Cayden · Post by **Cayden** » Tue May 06, 2008 5:11 am

Just received an e-mail in which the dissolved Clontarf Branch asks for support by signing a petition at:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/clontarf/

and if you're inclined to do so, give them a bit of financial support.

A good cause I'd think.

feardearg · Post by **feardearg** » Tue May 06, 2008 1:31 pm

Getting back to the real question: Do you have any praises to sing regarding the resource Comhaltas has been for your local music scene.

I stumbled into a evening at a Comhaltas branch and have been more or less attending as time permits. It seems to have its strengths and weakeness as one would expect. It has been a good place to gather and play tunes and dance and meet some real nice people.

The young ones who take lessons there seem to turn out to be good, and many times, great musicians. I started this music as an old guy, so I will never be good, but I think there are benefits of attendance even for me.

Good luck!

feardearg · Post by **feardearg** » Tue May 06, 2008 1:37 pm

I forgot to mention that it was that stumbling into the meeting that got me started in the music. The sounds and friendship won me over.

cocusflute · Post by **cocusflute** » Thu May 08, 2008 2:19 am

Getting back to the real question: Do you have any praises to sing regarding the resource Comhaltas has been for your local music scene.

We started a Comhaltas branch in NH a few years back. We had about fifteen members. Larry Reynolds encouraged us to start up. Then not one bit of help did he give. Not a thing. He neither called nor came, although the promises were mighty and many.
Comhaltas took our money and then ignored us. Totally. Comhaltas is a big rip-off. When we let the branch die Larry admitted that he -- and Comhaltas -- had let us down.
I see absolutely no value to a Comhaltas branch in Arizona. They will take your money and you will get nothing in return. I can perhaps see a branch somewhere in rural Ireland because then you might get some support and some grant money. Maybe. But in Arizona? Why bother? What do you expect to get except invitations to give Comhaltas more money?
There already is an Arizona Irish music Society. http://www.azirishmusic.com/home.html What would Comhaltas provide that organization does not?

straycat82 · Post by **straycat82** » Thu May 08, 2008 10:48 am

I won't argue for or against Comhaltas as I've only begun to find out what they're about and get involved. I will say in response to cocusflute's comment that when we sent out inquiries about starting our branch here in AZ we had tons of wonderful help. North American Chair, Helen Gannon even came down to AZ to be a part of our first official meeting and give a presentation to prospective members. Jim Belcher is coming down here in June to attend our first official general meeting and do a set dancing workshop.
Again, I am not defending or putting down Comhaltas but so far our experience has not matched that of the above post. We currently have over 40 paid members and they are still signing up.
To answer the other question, our Irish music society doesn't do anything at all for us musicians. From what I've seen the only service they provide is a cluttered mess of a website that displays the entertainment calendars of the local pubs which are, a majority of the time, not showcasing Irish bands.

emer · Post by **emer** » Mon May 26, 2008 7:28 am

Have you ever looked for a document that you could use as a prime and defining example of sycophancy ?
look no further :-

http://comhaltas.ie/press_room/detail/c ... tiurthoir/

Cayden · Post by **Cayden** » Mon May 26, 2008 7:59 am

I saw that two weeks ago, the tone of it is pretty sickening. Stuff like that embodies everything I dislike about CCE.

Craig Stuntz · Post by **Craig Stuntz** » Tue May 27, 2008 12:13 pm

A short (too short to quote) editorial:

http://thejmi.com/article/764

emer · Post by **emer** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 2:51 am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWtTxVrvS3o

straycat82 · Post by **straycat82** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 2:25 pm

I thought I'd revisit this topic briefly now that there are a couple years behind our newly-formed branch. I don't wish to rehash the arguments preceeding this post but only to follow up on my original post from 2008.

The Arizona branch, Four Peaks Irish Arts was founded in March of 2008 and we have already accomplished more in terms of bringing traditonal music to the valley than our Irish Cultural Center has in the years I've been involved in the community. The biggest reason for that is the fact that the Arizona ICC has a building to pay for and a board of older folks who are more concerned with leaving their names on buildings and monuments than carrying on the traditions. Because of these attitudes, they have passed over many great traditional acts as "not financially profitable" and our state earned a reputation from promoters as not being worth the effort of passing through. I say all of this to say that we've had quite the hole to dig ourselves out of from the get-go.
We have persevered and as a result, brought in about a dozen acts since forming in 2008, most of these have been in the in-home concert format (which is my favorite). We've brought in a few acts that weren't necessarily traditional (Grada, Buille) for the sake of building our reputation back up and because we did have members who were interested, but our main focus has been on traditional artists. Still, we have some who refuse to have anything to do with us because we are under the Comhaltas banner, regardless of the fact that our branch has its own identity. That is a shame but I do understand that there's no escaping the politics no matter what organization you're involved in and we're trying to stay positive.
So, what has CCE done for us that we couldn't have done alone? I'm not sure how to answer that other than the fact that we benefitted from not reinventing the wheel. We've had the support from other branches (namely, St. Louis, San Francisco and Seattle)to establish our organization and were able to adapt the bylaws and other legal stuff of other CCE branches to help us get through our non-profit status application a little easier [to be continued...]

straycat82 · Post by **straycat82** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 2:36 pm

[continued from previous post]
Some might argue that we could have done all this without CCE but in our circumstances I don't believe so. Still, I give the credit to the hard working officers and members of our branch who have made it happen. The CCE organization mostly gave us a starting platform and the support to get things going when we were clueless. It's possible that the branding effect helped us too (that is, people gave us the time of day because they were familiar with CCE and figured we knew what we were doing as part of that organization).

In an age where negativity spreads like wildfire over the internet, I figured I'd share a positive experience about our inclusion in CCE up until now. My involvement as the Vice Chair since our formation has afforded me several opportunities to experience some great dance, music and hospitality in the name of CCE. Below are a few pictures I've taken at events related to our branch.

Cheers,
Johnny

Chiff and Fipple Forums

Comhaltas

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