Sir, – Finn McRedmond's St Patrick's Day piece on Ireland's new cultural alignment with the EU seems to have overlooked one thing – we are almost as hopeless as the English at teaching our kids European languages ("Cheltenham 2020 was a turning point in our relationship with Britain", Opinion, March 17th).
We are simply not trying hard enough – through language – to foster any kind of ties with our closest EU neighbour. The same neighbour that is the world’s seventh biggest economy. Until that penny drops, our old cultural allies in US/UK/Australia will continue to be the main beneficiaries of our English-speaking brain drain, and the parlez vous Anglais joke is entirely on us; ’allo, ’allo.
– Is mise, MICHAEL MOLLOY, Athenry, Co Galway.