KEVIN HICKEY,
A chara, - I agree with Kevin Myers's assertion that Irish should be an optional subject (An Irishman's Diary, January 10th) and not a language forced on people - at least as far as the secondary school system is concerned. In making it optional, we can properly cater for those who have a genuine love of the language. It would also go a long way towards alleviating the shortage of teachers with fluent Irish, as there would be fewer students studying Irish and thus less demand for teachers of that description.
However, in the context of the Gaeltacht, I feel we are duty bound to protect it at all costs. After Donncha Ó Éalaithe's recent survey, we now have a more accurate idea of where the "fíor Ghaeltacht" lies, as it were. It is imperative that these areas are given precedence over all else in an effort to preserve Irish as a spoken language. Since the foundation of the State, the governments have done nothing to provide adequate services for native Irish speakers, many of whom were monoglots. Bearing this gross injustice in mind, it is utterly hypocritical to call the Irish-speaking community a racist one for their demand that people moving into the Gaeltacht have fluent Irish.
With regard to Kevin Myers's assertion that Irish is "finis, kaput, finito", perhaps somebody would take the time to explain to him the fundamental difference between "dead" and "dying".
Finally, with regard to reviving the Irish language on a state-wide basis, one only has to look at what the Israelis have achieved with Hebrew. Hebrew was a dead language and has been fully restored as the first spoken language of Israel. Perhaps it wouldn't do the Irish Government any harm to carry out a detailed research of how exactly the Israeli people successfully went about this. - Is mise,
KEVIN HICKEY,
Larchfield Road,
Goatstown,
Dublin 14.