A chara, - What is the policy of The Irish Times with respect of accents? On the front page of last Thursday's issue, there are extracts from a speech given as Gaeilge and the accents are all present and correct.
On page 6 there is an article by Nuala O'Faolain and in its title we read about "Mna na hEireann" (no accents). On page 9, there is an article entitled "Dail poll date is first priority" (no accent on the a of Dail).
It is interesting to compare this to your paper's treatment of a foreign language on the same date. On page 5, the author Moliere is mentioned with his accent. On page 7, mention is made of the "Elysee Palace", despite the fact that capital letters in French don't take accents.
I suggest that these unwanted intruders into the French language be removed and put in their rightful place on their sadly denuded Irish colleagues. - Is mise le meas,
Thormanby Road, Howth, Co Dublin.