A chara, - Eoin Daly's letter (August 25th) regarding bonus points for the use of Irish in State exams states that his "efforts in maths, science, etc., are inferior because they are expressed using native language", i.e. English.
According to Article 8.1 of Bunreacht na h╔ireann, Irish is his native language and English a recognised second official language (Article 8.2).
As for granting a "significant head start", answering through Irish entitles candidates to a bonus of 10 per cent of the marks they did not get. Thus, if a candidate achieves 60per cent in an exam, an extra 4 per cent is added as a bonus for answering in Irish. A bonus, yes , but a "significant" one?
And what about those who get extra points in the Leaving Cert for doing honours maths? - Is mise,
E.J. Tierney, Oldbridge Way, Lucan, Co Dublin.