Sir, - Sean Furlong's letter of June 17th must be challenged. Is it necessary to say that Gaeilge will, of course, be useless to someone who lives in America?
As a 15-year-old student, Gaeilge has been an invaluable source of interest and enjoyment. I believe that if, as Mr Furlong suggested, Gaeilge became optional, many pupils in both primary and secondary schools would simply drop it as a subject as it is one subject less and therefore, it would reduce the burden of school work.
The fact is that the benefits of Gaeilge are not reaped until later life when your "feiniulachas" becomes more important to you and you get the chance to visit the Gaeltacht or go to Irish college.
Ireland is a bilingual country. Though the use of Irish varies from region to region, it is still very important to us as it represents who we are and where we come from.
Why not translate "Amhran na bhFiann" or make everyone with Irish names find an English one? We can become a clone of England. I can't wait. - Yours, etc.,
Harry Simpson, Merrion Road, Dublin 4.