Don’t force students to study Irish

FORCING students to “study” Irish up to Leaving Cert level is unfair and does little to revive the language in so far as the majority of the students are involved.

In the majority of mainstream primary and second-level schools the standard of written and spoken Irish has declined. I know this from my own experience in education for the past 40 years and from my experience in dealing with children and young people outside the school environment.

The all-Irish schools and the gaeltacht schools are doing well principally because the parents and families are engaged with Irish and support their children in learning the language. They deserve to get every support possible and they do a great job.