Madam, - I write to express my surprise and dismay on hearing about the loss of the chair of Old Irish at UCD. The university has trained many important scholars in this area who have gone on to enrich adjacent fields, such as linguistics, with their expertise and who have helped to keep the cultural and historical importance of Irish studies and Ireland alive in the wider world.
The loss of a dedicated chair in Old Irish at Ireland's largest university sends a message to administrators of Celtic studies departments around the world that this is not an important area, and it will inevitably lead to a diminution in the standing of Irish studies across the globe.
I urge the authorities at UCD to reconsider a decision which takes narrow, immediate financial gain at a local level to be more important than maintaining the cultural importance of Irish over the long term and in a global context. - Yours, etc,
DAVID ADGER, Professor of Linguistics, Queen Mary, University of London, London E1.