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The emergence of the mobile phone and the rise of text messaging poses a significant threat to writing standards in English, according to the Department of Education's chief examiner in the subject, writes Seán Flynn, Education Editor.

In a review of standards in last year's Junior Cert, the examiner, whose identity is not released to protect the integrity of the system, laments how "text messaging, with its use of phonetic spelling and little or no punctuation, seems to pose a threat to traditional conventions in writing".