Sir, - Gabriel Rosenstock's continued over-reaction (August 2nd) to the fact that second-level teachers will no longer have to pass an oral and written exam in Irish makes me wonder whether he thinks it is the subject itself that is to be abolished. Some of his points carry merit, but neither he, nor anyone else critical of the Minister for Science and Education's decision, has made a compelling argument to retain the Irish requirement.
By all means, let subjects interact and overlap, but why the necessity for an exam in Irish for teachers of Maths, Science, Art, Engineering, Building Construction, etc? The Minister has retained the exam for teachers of Irish and teachers in Gaelscoileanna, and rightly so. As I stated (July 28th), it is a common-sense development to do away with the Irish exam for the vast majority of second-level teachers. To Gaeilgeoiri who are genuinely worried about this development and who see it as a retrograde step, I would say: "Use the opportunity to make Irish a stronger, leaner subject able to stand on its own two feet without the need of props such as pre1974, when a student failed the entire Leaving Certificate if Irish was failed, or the current extra percentage for answering through Irish." There is a French saying, Pour mieux sauter, il faut reculer ("To make a big leap forward, you have to take a couple of steps back"). - Yours, etc., Bernard McDonnell,
Assistant Principal, Plunkett College, Dublin 9.