A chara, – The fact that Ann Marie Hourihane does not encounter Irish as a living language does not mean that the language is “non-spoken” (Opinion, March 5th).
There is a significant minority of Irish people who use Irish on an everyday basis, both inside and outside the Gaeltacht, as evidenced by the success of TG4 and the demand for Irish language education. The working-class community of Cabra in central Dublin has established in recent years a thriving pre-school, primary and secondary school, through the medium of Irish, where the children continue to improve their educational standards. There are hundreds of similar projects throughout the country, which Ms Hourihane should research before labelling it “a charade”.
Her words are highly insulting for the thousands of children who use Irish as an everyday tongue, which their parents believe is central to their self-identity and self- esteem. – Is mise,