Ellen Coyne

And the anguish as well, sometimes when I was talking to parents who were saying, there's so much about this sport that I really don't like and I'd love to get him or her out of it, like get their kids out of it.

Do they call it a sport?

Oh, absolutely, without question.

Like, I think that it was, as weird as it sounds and as much abuse as I got, there was times when I felt really protective of Irish dancing because...

I feel like sometimes it's not taken as seriously as it should be because of the hair and the makeup and the tan.

And yes, the kind of like Dolly Parton circus that tends to go with it and the glam and the weird characters and all the fish fixing scandal, I guess, as well.

But the athleticism is

You can't, like you can't put it that way and say that it's not.

You can't deny it.

It is, it is definitely without question a sport, but it just has that complexity of being, I guess some people would say like a cultural art form as well.

And I suppose in Ireland, like we've kind of left it alone to its own devices to govern itself for...

over a century in a way that I don't think we would ever tolerate that if the GAA or a similar organisation was kind of left to kind of be solely focused on competition rather than on protecting the culture of the sport as well.

After all the controversies of recent years, do you believe that the contests now are free and fair?

I'll put it to you this way.

People can only go on their own experience.

And I know a lot of people had a very, very positive experience in Irish dancing.

But I wrote a dedication at the start of the book to my son, Adam, and told him that he is... He's an amazing little boy who can do anything in the world, but probably not Irish dancing, based on my experience over the last few years.

I think that it's an incredible sport.

But if it could be... If it could be kept and maintained and made more about...

how incredible and beautiful this sport is and how historically important it is and less about winning the most trophies and the most medals, I would feel a little bit more comfortable letting my own children participate in it, I think.