Madam, – I was delighted to read Deaglán de Bréadún’s article (Opinion, May 28th) on our current crop of public speakers. I agree with him when he says that many politicians (and I would say, members of society in general) lack “fluency and a passion to communicate”.
For many years, I have believed that training in the ancient art of oratory should be part of the school curriculum. At school, I greatly enjoyed participating in debates, either in class or at our debating society.
Unfortunately, debating societies are not available in every school. Mr de Bréadún bemoans the lack of inspiring orators in Irish politics today, and surely encouraging public speaking in schools is one way to combat this dearth?
Aside from the political aspect, training in public speaking would also enable young people to get ahead in corporate life as they can fight their corner in the boardroom.
I call on Ruairí Quinn to consider this proposal as a way to bring more young people into politics and into the corporate world. – Yours, etc,