Dear Editor,

I wish to take issue with a number of things which were raised in an article in your Focus on Education (E&L, December 5th). In the article concerning the setting up of a pre school in Valentia - it was stated that it was difficult to set up the school due to the fact that Valentia was comparable to a Third World country.

I take grave exception to this comparison, as I'm sure many Third World countries would wish that they had the facilities and amenities which we have here on Valentia.

Contrary to what your interviewer stated in the article, we did have a playschool on Valentia previously and there was also one in the nearby village of Portmagee. It was also stated that chairs and tables had to be borrowed due to lack of funding, but - as I know from living here - every avenue for funding was explored; a church gate collection, raffles and a collection on the day of the local regatta.

So, as you can see, there was a financial input from the community.

Also, strictly speaking, it is not a disused cafe in which the school is held; the coffee shop was an adjoining part of a shop which the owner let out to the committee of the pre school.

My main grievance with the article is that the tone of it implied that we on Valentia were completely backward with regard to education, when nothing could be further from the truth. Our local school here is a five teacher school, two of those being a remedial teacher and a special needs teacher.

Valentia is a wonderful place for children in every sense - educational and otherwise. If it were not, I'm sure that not as many people would come with their families from other countries to live here, as they have done! Yours,

Knightstown,

Valentia, Co Kerry.