A chara, - Regarding "Official Irish" (Letters, October 5th and 10th), your correspondents need not worry about the health of the Irish language because of words such as rβsch·rsa, ceanncheathr· and Gaelβras.
It is a long-established rule of Irish that when nouns are combined into one word the first qualifies the second.
The rule even works for the combination of adjectives and nouns, so company names such as Glanbia are perfectly acceptable, if a little odd to the ear.
When the concepts do not combine, the qualifying concept follows the principal noun. Hence ┴ras an Uachtarβin, plβta glan, c·rsa Gaeilge, or Oideas Gael. I feel, however, that your original correspondent's difficulty was not with the grammar of rβsch·rsa and ceanncheathr·, but with their apparent simplicity. I like both words for that very reason. Both are good Irish, easily spoken, and easily remembered.
N∅l aon ghβ le duairceas. Beidh an teanga slβn ach ∅ a labhairt. - Is mise,
Brian ╙ Broin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.