Sir, - I refer to a letter (January 16th) concerning Ms Sile de Valera's attendance at an international symposium in the National Concert Hall on music education.
The Minister accepted an invitation to open the international symposium. At no stage did she agree to give a "lecture" or participate in a "hour-and-a-half open debate". On that particular day her long-standing schedule of commitments would have made it impossible for her to do so. It was, therefore, regrettable that the Minister's agreement to open the conference should have been advertised, without her prior knowledge, as a substantive contribution to a discussion on a subject in which she has a particular interest. - Yours, etc.,
Declan Bale, Press and Information Officer,Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Dublin 2.