WHAT, indeed. The idea that Ireland is perceived through, and changed by, the imagination, is central to the L'Imaginaire concept. But the whole idea of the festival springs from old cultural habits. Presidents Mitterand and Robinson struck on the idea, but it became a reality because the French like Ireland (small, arty, pretty, friendly, celte) and the Irish like France (it's not England). The fact that this particular French administration is best known abroad for exploding nuclear bombs in the South Pacific is neither here nor there.

While the Irish put a million and a half into it, the French have almost matched that, to import a vast array of Irish art. It is magnificent, it underlines French cultural confidence, but there can't help being the suspicion that non threatening cultures, such as Irish culture, go down best, and that not many preconceptions are open to change.