Dear Editor,

I write in order to clear up any misunderstandings which may have arisen from my contribution to Willa Murphy's article on Irish cultural activities in Oxford (E&L December 12th), particularly regarding the reaction to my production there of Dermot Bolger's play One Last White Horse (E&L, Readers Viewpoint, January 16th).

First, one should bear in mind that the vast majority of the play's audience were British, or at least non Irish. So in effect the mixed reaction accorded the production says almost nothing about the attitude of Irish students at Oxford towards contemporary Irish literature.

What it may do is reveal a little of the expectations of the non Irish students when it comes to Irish drama. However, I think it would be unwise to suggest either, on the basis of a single production, that the mixed reaction implies that those British (or indeed international) students at Oxford are "more interested in writing from another era in Ireland than they arc in contemporary Irish writing".

Rather, it suggests that, as I had suspected, the non Irish students' experience of Irish drama was, understandably, limited and in need of some updating. Hence, indeed, my decision to stage One Last White Horse there.

As to the views of the Irish students at Oxford, both my own experience and Willa Murphy's article would lead me to conclude that while those students maintain a very healthy regard for, and love of, Irish writing from bygone times, they are no less passionate when it comes to contemporary Irish literature. Indeed, as the article went on to point out, many of them are not, intact, working on canonical icons of Irish literature, but on modern, contemporary, and often very young, Irish writers, Dermot Bolger included.

Yours,

Hy Brasil,

Hainault Road,

Foxrock,

Dublin 18