• If the number of albums being released at a given time is any indication, then Gaelic culture is in its healthiest state for years. It is particularly encouraging that real roots music is still being recorded, and indeed that the Irish language is still finding its place in this context.

One of the finest of the year's traditional releases is undoubtedly Neil Mulligan's Barr na Cúille. Named after his father's birth place, it is witness not just to the wonderful strength and quality of Mulligan's playing but also to the undying power and relevance of the idiom itself.

Not that this should be in doubt. Neil Mulligan has been carrying the torch, playing solo sessions in far flung places like Finland and Estonia, as well as teaching the pipes in New Zealand - where among his students he numbered one Chinese guy! "In fact I taught one Japanese man the pipes through Irish", Neil adds, underlining the cross-pollination that is possible when people come to a rich cultural tradition with open hearts.

"They have a fanaticism for Irish music in Estonia," Neil adds. "I think that they identify strongly with the Irish because of the proximity of a dominant neighbour, which is something they have experienced too.'

It was for a concert in Estonia that Neil composed 'Wings of my Soul', which is one of the highlights of the album. On Spring Records, Barr na Cúille is well worth checking out.

In a very different vein Eoin Duignam has just released Coumíneol, a fine album of original material played on the uilleann pipes and low whistle. In this case there's a strong rock influence that brings Paddy Keenan and Davy Spillane to mind but Eoin learned his piping from Leo Rowsome in the Dublin Piper's Club and that influence shows in the primitive character of the playing, despite the breadth of the orchestration in which it's bedded.

Also released this summer and well worth checking out are albums by four of the new wave of Irish traditional - or traditionally inspired - groups. From Deiseal there's The Long Long Note (Starc), an album that manages to be stunningly contemporary without in any way diminishing the tradition; reviewed in the last edition of Hot Press, Dervish's Harmony Hill (Whirling Discs) is also well worth tracking down; to be reviewed in the next issue, Éinniú's eponymous debut Éinniú (Cló Iar Chonnachta) is also marvellously promising and finally there's the superb first offering from Draíocht, The Druid And The Dreamer (Cross Border Media), which was widely acclaimed - and rightly so - on its release earlier this year.

The torch is burning brightly. Long may it continue to do so . . .

• AS IRELAND becomes increasingly absorbed into the European "state", growing numbers of people are determined that this development should not erode our sense of national identity. Consequently the nineties have seen a considerably renewed interest in Irish traditional music, arts, culture and, perhaps most significantly of all, the Irish language.

There are now numerous ways of learning Irish in adulthood, including the impressive array of books and cassettes, which facilitate self-learning at your own pace in a way that causes minimal disruption to your everyday life.

However the best way to learn any language is through using it in real face-to-face situations with those who speak it fluently. The name Gael Linn is virtually synonymous with all aspects of Gaelic culture and from their base in Merrion Square they run a variety of courses in the Irish language.

Gael Linn's Irish courses generally operate on three different levels. One deals with those who have virtually no Irish at all and who are effectively starting from scratch; the second caters for those who studied Irish while at school but whose grasp of the language has fallen into disrepair; and the third level is for those who may have been quite fluent in Irish in the past but who have since allowed their fluency to clog up a little.

Each of the courses runs for three evenings every week, offering a total of forty-five hours of tuition spread over five weeks.

• FOR THE uninitiated, Fonn is a national song contest for original songs in Irish. All types of songs are welcome - rock, blues, traditional or pop - according to the organisers, and there's a handy £1,000 in prize money on offer, including a top prize of £500 for the winning act. In addition the composers of the winning song will get £20.

Entries should be submitted to Bord na Gaeilge, 7 Merrion Square, Dublin 2 by the end of September on DAT cassette. The finalists will be selected with the big event taking place in the Leisureland, Galway on October 23rd 1993. "It's an important launching pad for any group,' says Fonn organiser Seán O hÉanaigh. "The contest will be held before an audience of 1,000 people, recorded and broadcast by Radio na Gaeltachta and be given good publicity."

Fonn is just one of the ways in which Bord na Gaeilge promotes the Irish language, pushing towards the goal of a bilingual Ireland. "Suite i 7 Cearnóg Mhuirfean, tugann Bord na Gaeilge tacaócht a réimsí eágóile,"adeireann Seán. "Cumarsáid, Oideachas, an Ghaeltacht 7rl."

The State board has also recently launched Stiúideo a 7, a 24-track commercial recording studio located in the board's HQ. The objective is, where possible, to support groups, bands and organisations which promote the Irish language through music, drama, advertising, radio programmes and training. Among the albums recorded in Stiúideo a 7 are recent albums by Frankie Lane, Éinniú, Draíocht and Tadgh Mac Dhonnagáin.