MINISTER Éamon Ó Cuív displays faulty logic when he says that to press the case for the inclusion of Irish among the European Union's official working languages would be inappropriate during the Irish presidency.

DENMARK insisted on full recognition of its language on joining the then EEC with Ireland and Britain. Ireland did not. At the time, I was working in The Hague and there was a rumour that a highly placed Dutch official opposed Irish lest its introduction lead to the acceptance of Frisian, a regional language in the north of the Netherlands.