Dear Editor,

Regarding Christina Murphy's assertion (E&L, March 5th) that thousands of bright students take Irish at ordinary level while taking other subjects at higher level, could it be that these bright, rational 16- and 17-year olds have decided rightly or wrongly that Irish is going to play a limited role in their future?

This may upset the various pressure groups whose views hold sway at present. These students may even decide that French or German will be of more use to them and that spending too much time on Irish will affect their career prospects.

It is time we got this monkey off the back of what we are told is a minority of people who are fed up carrying it around. A rethink on our hypocrisy on Irish unity and the treatment of children has been going on recently; the time might be right for a rethink on the language as well.

Dunboyne, Co Meath.