A chara, - Kevin Myers (An Irishman's Diary, September 18th) proves true to form in declaring the Irish language dead. Am I to deduce that those friends in Fingal, Dublin, Kerry, Galway and elsewhere with whom I converse solely in Irish are some sort of extras in a Myersian version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer?
Mr Myers does, however, hit the nail painfully on the head in highlighting the lack of Irish used in the Dail? One explanation for the reluctance of TDs to speak Irish is the refusal of other TDs - and, indeed, Leinster House journalists - who have little or no Irish to wear the English-feed headphones provided by the translation service. I for one am resolved to use Irish whenever I speak in the Dail from Wednesday, September 29th. I hope that journalists and other TDs will listen to the translation as necessary. I have written to all my Dail colleagues recently on this matter.
Personally I still hold out hope that Ireland can facilitate at least two, and perhaps more than two, language communities. I am also an optimist in believing that climate change trends can be arrested, that extinction of species can be prevented through habitat protection and that social justice can replace the growing misery in this deeply divided human Earth community.
The Welsh Language Board estimates that between 60 and 65 per cent of people in the world use at least two languages in their everyday lives. It seems that Mr Myers has met very few such people in Ireland to date. - Is mise,
Trevor Sargent TD, Green Party/Comhaontas Glas, Dail Eireann, Dublin 2.