Madam, - Archbishop Sean Brady notes, while addressing the Irish Bishops' Conference seminar, that "not only are marriage and family grounded in the will of God and revealed by the order of nature, they are also the primary source of stability, life and love in any society" (The Irish Times, May 4th).
Powerful and true sentiments indeed - as are the comments of teacher and Irish Times columnist Breda O'Brien that "many women are torn between children and work" and that "many mothers must have more options or choice around whether they want to take up paid employment."
How can the modern Irish mother juxtapose these two very reasonable and practical statements? The straight answer is that sadly, while both ideas are right in themselves, as long as this country does not have State-run pre-schools, neither sentiment can be fulfilled.
It is a necessity that women work nowadays or at least have the right to choose paid employment if they so wish. Mothers should not have to rely on privately run pre-schools - often an expensive option. We need first-class, State-run pre-schools. Our Department of Education and Science must then insist on a compulsory starting age of five years for all children in formal schools.
Result, in my humble opinion: more stability in the home because the child is better equipped for formal schooling and mothers have a choice of working or not working outside the home. In the long term, dare I say it, this nation would have more young people attending third-level institutions and completing the courses with success. Nothing succeeds like success and the earlier this feeling comes the better! - Yours, etc.,
BRENDA MORGAN, Asgard Park, Howth, Co Dublin.