Sir - Little said in the debate for and against the promotion of the Irish language has filled me with as much revulsion as the argument put forward by Mr Eugene Egan of Tanzania (July 7th).
As a thirty-something Irishman, I have lived outside of Ireland, in numerous countries, for most of the past 15 years. Never once has my inability to converse in Irish indicated to others that I was, in the words of your correspondent, "touchin' our forelocks, doffin' our caps and spakin' Inglish like gintlemin".
What Mr Egan implies is that when conversing in English, and in my Irish accent, I sound like some sort of fool. I think not.
I, and the many thousands of Irish citizens who continue to live outside Ireland, have worked hard to conduct ourselves in a manner which brings pride to our nation. It has not been an overtly conscious effort, it is just who and how we are. Your correspondent has done us all a huge disservice. I am disheartened by his parochial attitude, given his location.
For the record, I'm currently taking classes in Dutch, with an Irish accent of course. - Yours, etc.,
Alan Clinton,
Managing Director,
Venture Consultancy Ltd,
Leiden,
The Netherlands.