Given the Taoiseach's new-found support for music education, the University of Limerick's announcement of a new M.A. in Classical String Performance could hardly have come at a more opportune moment, writes Michael Dervan.

In 1995 two UL-based organisations, the Irish Chamber Orchestra and the Irish World Music Centre, commissioned a research report on a Postgraduate Institute of the Performing Arts. The new MA course, modelled more on US than European lines, is a direct outcome of this. It will start in September, with courses in violin, viola, cello and double bass, and the full-time post of Course Director will be advertised shortly.