Sir, In the presence of the Minister for Education, Niamh Bhreathnach, at the 1995 Labour Party Conference in Limerick, I put forward a motion during which I quoted from a proposal made jointly by the Irish National Teachers' Organisation and the Methodist Women's Association to the Opsahl Report hearings, calling for the introduction of a common history course in the Republic and the North. I suggested that the Minister should act upon this proposal, in conjunction with her Northern Ireland counterpart, by setting up a pilot project utilising the services of a pool of Irish historians.
The Minister now proposes to remove history as a core sublet from the Junior Certificate syllabus because of increasing pressure on the school timetable (Irish Times, April 12th). Citizenship requires an understanding of one's identity, and also our place within the broader European and global context. There is a real danger that through the downgrading of history as a subject, future generations will be robbed of an understanding of their heritage, which is a prerequisite to balanced civic participation.
I consider that the Minister should reconsider her decision or at least, facilitate public debate by articulating fully her reasons for this rather drastic action. - Yours, etc.,
Rose Hill,
Wicklow,
Co Wicklow.