Sir, - I see that president-elect Catherine Connolly “doesn’t like the phrase cùpla focail” and intends to “make proficiency in Irish a requirement” for the staff in Àras an Uachtaràin. (“Connolly wants to make Irish the working language of Áras”, Page 1, November 1st). There are two obvious problems with this rather sudden proscription.
Firstly, the change has practical real world impact and effects on long-standing employees and impairs the prospects of prospective employees. The president-elect herself would not have met the standard she is setting until well into adulthood.
Secondly, one wonders how immigrants or members of non-Gaelic speaking traditions on this island could go about obtaining employment at the Àras.
The Àras doesn’t strike me as a venue that revels in sudden and arbitrary change. - Yours, etc,
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Michael Deasy,
Bandon,
Co Cork.
