Madam, - Victoria Madigan (May 2nd) and others deplore the wretched state of Irish in the schools, and wonder why the pupils do not learn or speak Irish.
There is no need to wonder. The youngsters of the nation do not acquire Irish because they don't want to, which is because they, their parents and their teachers are part of an English speaking nation and have no intention of becoming anything else.
They know, as everybody knows, that Irish in the schools is a matter of State symbolism, not one of language acquisition, and that once the symbolic purpose has been served there is no need to bother about it any further. - Yours, etc,
DONAL FLYNN, Breffni Terrace, Sandycove, Co Dublin.