Sir, - I have received some inquiries as a result of a remark made by the Minister for Education, Mr Martin, in his address to the INTO conference (The Irish Times, April 15th). I would like, courtesy of your columns, to outline the matter more fully. On the occasion of a recent brief courtesy visit by the Minister to St Mary's, Belfast, we spoke about a number of ways in which the college assist cross-Border co-operation in teacher training. Among these the Ceard Teastas in Irish for primary teachers was raised as an issue of fairness. If someone from, say, Tyrone or Donegal trains as a primary teacher in Dublin and the course includes Irish to degree level, the Ceard Teastas is included and assessed within the course and the newly qualified teacher can be employed in the Republic without further ado. If, however, the same person trains as a primary teacher in Northern Ireland and the course includes Irish to degree level, that person will have to take the Ceard Teastas scrudu afterwards to be employable in the Republic. Newly qualified teachers who have encountered this problems say it makes them feel like aliens in their own country. The Minister saw the anomaly and promised to consider ways in which it might be resolved. Although it was raised in a St Mary's context, graduates of St Mary's are not the only Northern Ireland trained teachers to be affected and one would presume that any resolution would apply to all who are affected in the way described. We look forward, God willing, to continuing discussions with the Minister about this matter in the spirit of the new Ireland to which we aspire. - Yours, etc., Rev Martin O'Callaghan,
Principal, St Mary's College of Education, Falls Road, Belfast 12.