Madam, - As custodians of the Franciscan manuscript archive, it is fitting that academics in UCD are leading the way in commemorating "Louvain 400", celebrating the achievements of those scholars associated with the Irish Franciscan College at Louvain.
However, as a graduate of the Old Irish department at UCD, I can only deplore the fact that with the downgrading of Old Irish from full degree subject, the authorities at the largest of our national universities no longer see fit to allow students to be trained to actually read and study the contents of these national treasures. - Yours, etc,
Dr KEVIN MURRAY, Department of Early and Medieval Irish, University College, Cork.