Madam, - Dr Edel Bhreatnach and Dr John McCafferty (April 27th) have clearly missed the main point of the many letters and articles which have appeared in this paper since the middle of March, including that by Dr Kevin Murray of UCC (April 6th) to which they make direct reference. This has been to deplore UCD's discontinuation of the single honours BA in old and middle Irish, the only such degree in the country, and its failure to fill the established chair of old and middle Irish, one of the few such chairs in the world.
By all means let Drs Bhreatnach and McCafferty highlight UCD's celebrations to mark the foundation of the Irish College at Louvain in 1607 and the research being supported through the UCD institute named for the 17th-century scholar Míchéal Ó Cléirigh. But this does not excuse their employer's disregard for the language and literature of the old and middle Irish period. In fact, the provision of taught programmes and a dedicated chair is the obvious corollary of hosting an institute named for Ó Cléirigh who laboured tirelessly to transmit the culture of this period to later generations. - Yours, etc,
MÁIRÍN NÍ DHONNCHADHA, Professor of old and middle Irish and Celtic philology, National University of Ireland, Galway.