Yes, we are in a post-colonial situation. No, we must not close our Sligo ears to the string-quartet or the upright piano. As I was eight , it was hard to retain the melodies of our Borrisokane Bagpipe Band. In the 2000 Festival I have twinned my own with other Irish international works. Look at the musical sandwiches I’ve made. My music matters.
Sligo WAS a centre of megalithic culture, of the “TAIN” ‘s beginnings. My 2000 Festival here mates my musical thought with a tradition going back to that South Turkish gazelle-hunter’s village.
It begins with God’s Stutter. Hear the music those pierced swan-bones sang in Catal Huyuk. . B’i ag clos. Jump over your post-colonial shadow in Sligo. Elsewhere . Noli temere.