Sir, - The Irish Times does well to give prominence to the Taoiseach's supportive and encouraging remarks on music education ("Music in Schools" Editorial, Saturday, January 17th). In my organisation's business of national music development, the fundamental importance of fixing the Irish music education "problem" is brought home to us daily.
The Taoiseach is to be congratulated for his speech last week in which he declared his support and that of Minister Sile de Valera for the idea of a third-level music and performing arts college for Dublin, and his intention to set up an interdepartmental committee to advance the project. More significant still was his remark that this proposed development should take place "without prejudice to what we need to do to encourage widespread music education at more elementary levels."
It is enormously encouraging to see political understanding and commitment at this level to the single biggest big issue in music in Ireland. A national conservatoire will be very welcome when it comes, but it is great to see an openly expressed awareness on the part of our most senior politicians that it would be a partially empty gesture without a major initiative in our primary and secondary schools, where basic music education for the vast majority of the population is virtually absent in spite of its declared place in the curriculum. This has been highlighted again most recently in the Government PIANO and FORTE reports, and the Boydell Papers of 1997, as well as in countless other reports stretching back into history.
Congratulations to The Irish Times for highlighting the national scandal of the decades of neglect of music education in primary and secondary education which has brought this situation about. As you perceptively point out, while it is disgraceful that our performance students must in the main go abroad for study, there is a path for progress, however difficult and unfair. For the vast majority of the population, there is no way to redress the more basic deprivation, and attending the future national conservatoire cannot even be a dream. - Yours, etc.,
Chief executive, Music Network, Dublin Castle, Dublin 2.