Sir, – Michael McCaughan's tour of the best Irish language courses ("Back to the Gaeltacht", August 15th) was great. But what happens when he goes back to South America and wants to keep it up with some good books in Irish? He could read some translations into Irish of English classics and feel a bit like a fool, or borrow the cheap school editions of some Irish classics. The only bestsellers in Irish for years now have been translations of booklets on referendums, water schemes and postcodes (which have actually been free).
I know of only one funded course, that in Ballyvaughan once a year, for creative writing in Irish. In contrast, the annual cost of translating official documents into Irish for people who can read English perfectly well exceeded a million pounds years ago and must now be well over that.
Dineen’s dictionary amazingly can still be bought new. I wonder what word does he give for “gross”? – Yours, etc,
RAPHAEL DARCY
Dublin 16.