Madam, - I think that Matt Nolan (December 15th) is losing sight of the bigger picture. When Ireland joined the EEC in 1973 the Government took a very pragmatic decision not to request Irish to be an official working language of the Community. The simple fact is that no one would actually work through it.
The EU translation and interpretation services will be put under enormous strain when 10 new member-states join next year, and it would be highly unjust of us to request at this stage that the status of the Irish language be elevated.
Besides, there are other non-official European languages that have at least equal, if not far greater, cases for being included: Catalan, Basque, Galician, Welsh, Frisian, Russian. Catalan speakers feel particularly aggrieved, as they number almost ten million, far greater than many of the existing languages and most of the new ones.
The EU already supports Irish through its minority language programs and the European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages, which has two main offices, in Brussels and Dublin. Irish is an equal and official language for primary documentation (such as Treaties), and any EU citizen has the right to address the European Courts in Irish. However, providing this service for MEPs and bureaucrats would serve no purpose. - Yours, etc.
CONOR COLLINS, Rochestown, Cork.