Madam, - I see that Donal Flynn (May 23rd) is resorting to the old argument about "compulsory Irish" being forced down people's throats, although he phrases it less drastically.
The Department of Education sets the curriculum; this includes minimum requirements on study, including a requirement to study Irish, English, Maths and a modern language. The universities and third-level colleges set minimum standards for entry. In the case of the NUI, this includes a modest minimum requirement for Irish, for those who have had an opportunity to study it.
However, both the Department and the NUI allow a derogation from Irish for students who can show a genuine inability to learn Irish. This is not the case with the other subjects.
I fail to see how supporting the small minority who are unwilling to learn part of the standard curriculum puts one on the higher moral ground. Or why the majority, who show no difficulty in attaining the minimum standards required, should be denied the opportunity to learn Irish.
Making languages optional in the UK has had the effect of pushing them to the margins of the curriculum there. Why should we repeat that error, in the case of Irish or any other language?
- Is mise,
AONGHUS Ó hALMHAIN, Páirc na Seilbhe, Baile an Chinnéidigh, Co Chill Mhantáin.
Madam, - Donal Flynn (May 23rd) asks why the "English-speaking majority" are required to learn Irish at school and pass an examination in Irish to enter the NUI. The answer is in his question. The English-speaking majority have a complex relationship with the Irish language, as do Irish speakers themselves. Being the overwhelming majority, it is those who do not speak Irish regularly who have determined these rules and commitments to Irish, not the 72,148 people in the State (according to the 2006 Census) who speak Irish daily outside the education system.
- Yours, etc,
TADHG Ó hIFEARNÁIN, Carraigín Áth an Choite, Co Luimnigh.