GWEN WOODS,
Sir, - I have had a love affair with the Irish language since I entered an all-Irish school against my parents' wishes at the age of 11. It was like discovering one's own primal heritage. It was not easy taking French and Latin through the medium, but I have cherished the ties my education has given me to our culture.
As we enter the federal state of Europe seemingly dominated by Germany, I believe we must hold on even more to our own language or lose our identity completely.
We have produced great writers who battled with the conflicts of Irishness and the larger world, but their inspirations seemed to come from the conflict. Sadly, along the way some moron in the Department of Education took away our beautiful Celtic script.
Compulsory Irish was the death knell of the language. As a nation we do not take to compulsion and if this aspect was taken out of the equation I believe the language would be desired and chosen by far more young people and would thrive. - Yours, etc.,
GWEN WOODS, Herbert Park, Dublin 4.