Sir, - Being Polish I probably should not comment on the Irish speakers issue. My Irish vocabulary consists of five words only: Nuacht - from TV, An Lar - thanks to Dublin buses, Mna and Fir - toilets, and, freshly acquired - Rampai, for a few ramps recently built around the housing estate where I live in Dublin 14. (By the way, I have never heard a word spoken in Irish in our area, where I have been living for the last 15 years).
However, considering parallel historical experiences and similar values shared by the Irish and the Poles, it might be of interest to make a few points. Kevin Myers is right in saying that people in Ireland, or anywhere else - would not speak the language which they simply do not want to speak. Poland was erased from the map of Europe for some 125 years. During that time the Polish language was largely suppressed by foreign powers and, for some time, taught in schools just like a secondary language. However, the Poles were determined to keep their language alive. A standard Polish developed - with eradication of many regional differences, and Polish poetry and prose flourished. Consequently, there is widespread attitude in Poland towards correctness and knowledge of standard Polish.
During my school days in Communist Poland, the Russian language was a compulsory part of the curriculum. A minimum six years at school, compulsory in MATURA (the Polish equivalent of the Leaving Cert) compulsory in the University entry test, and a compulsory two year Russian course at the university. Though phonetically different, Russian is closely related to Polish and very easy for Poles, but we did not want to learn it. As a result, only an insignificant percentage of the, Polish population speaks Russian. Thus, I totally agree with the view of Kevin Myers regarding the policy of coercion and the money spent to sustain "the fiction"!
In addition, there is a mere pragmatism I love my native tongue, its richness, metaphors, Slavic vividness. But Poles - like myself - when travelling farther than the former Czechoslovakia, have to abandon their own language if they wish to communicate. Young educated Irish who travel abroad today - for work or just to broaden their horizons - are very fortunate in having English as their first spoken language.
I am always asked in Poland: "How is it possible that Irish people lost their mother tongue and still maintain their distinctive national identity?" The Irish can claim credit for another "miracle": four Nobel Prizes for Literature, and some of the greatest novels of the 20th century - composed by Irish writers but not in Irish. - Yours, etc.,
Woodley Park,
Dublin 14.