Sir, - In your Education & Living supplement of September 15th Yvonne Healy cites the report of the planning group at Queen's University, Belfast to the effect that the Italian department there has "no research culture and no prospects of developing one". This is apparently one of the reasons for the proposed closure of the department.
Members of the Society for Italian Studies in both Ireland and the UK will strongly disagree with this judgment, which was made, as far as I am aware, without the advice of any subject specialists. There is plenty of potential for research in the department. If this has not been as fully developed as it could be, the principal cause lies in the university's decision not to appoint a new professor of Italian when the last one retired some years ago. This could, of course, easily be remedied. In the meantime hard-working, committed and able colleagues should not be penalised for the university management's failure to invest in the subject.
Italian studies are flourishing in the Republic. It would be a great pity if, as a result of the proposed closure of the Queen's department, they ceased to be available at honours level in Northern Ireland. - Yours, etc., Prof David Robey,
Department of Italian Studies, University of Reading, Berkshire, England.