Sir, - As a graduate of UCG (now NUI Galway) I read with interest the letters of Seamus Rattigan and Prof. J. N. Flavin (February 16th) which were highly critical of Yvonne Healy's article in this paper on February 8th.
Personally, I welcome Ms Healy's decision to question the way in which a future president of my alma mater is selected. Whatever the merits of using international headhunters, for far too long the range of candidates for the position has been limited to the internal senior academic staff of Galway.
As most academics are cautious, they tend to select a future president on the basis of "primus inter pares": i.e., we have elected you and you rule with our consent and co-operation. This form of "consensus" presidency has avoided internal conflicts and given the university great stability. But it has stifled any sense of controversy and debate as to what might happen should an "outside" candidate be considered as president.
Then there is the issue of the candidate being proficient in the Irish language. During the presidency of Dr Colm O hEocha, when the college expanded rapidly, many non-Irish staff were appointed who had no previous knowledge of Irish. However with some coaching they managed to pass the necessary exam to teach their subject in Irish.
Of course, during the 1930s the Irish language requirement was abused to admit unqualified candidates to academic posts and exclude more able candidates. My father used to comment on a former professor of commerce whose strangulated attempts to teach business subjects through the medium of Irish "did little to inculcate a love of the Irish language or broaden one's knowledge of international trade".
Selecting an outside candidate who has an international reputation in college administration would mark a new phase in the history of NUI-Galway and widen the horizons of its academics and students. - Yours, etc.,
Bernard O'Grady, Sao Paulo, Brazil.