Sir, – I write in response to Terry Moylan's letter (December 30th) commenting on my article "Uilleann pipes weren't worth a kneecapping" (Opinion & Analysis, December 27th).
First, I should say I am absolutely delighted that Mr Moylan has chosen to respond to my article in the way that he has: it is always gratifying when what you say stimulates meaningful debate.
That said, Mr Moylan makes an unfortunate assumption when he states that I was taught by Liam O’Flynn at Willie Clancy Week. Nowhere in my article do I make that assertion, because I was in fact taught by him a couple of years later at an event in Belfast, as I recall.
Equally, while I accept in my article that there may have been a degree of paranoia in a few of my experiences, I am absolutely certain of the reality of the three instances I cite, otherwise I wouldn’t have cited them. In particular, it is difficult to put being hurled out of a pub in short order down to paranoia.
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I am extremely grateful for Mr Moylan’s recommendation I should pick up the pipes again. Despite what I encountered all those years ago, he only reinforces the encouragement I received from pipers at the time, including those at the Irish Centre in Camden Town in London (where I took lessons for three years), and also from several pre-eminent musicians. Apart from a grin from Liam O’Flynn, I received encouragement, for instance, from Sean Potts and Robbie Hannan (although I doubt if either would now remember who I was). – Yours, etc,
ROBERT PORTER,
London.