A chara, - I write this letter in English in deference to all those professionals employed to attract tourists to Ireland.
It has come to my attention that banners officially erected along the route of the Tour de France will blazon their welcoming messages in the Queen's English.
Not even the words Cead Mile Failte used extensively back in 1849 to welcome Queen Victoria to Belfast will be used by the moguls of our tourist industry. Queen Victoria noted in her 1849 diary that "the favourite motto written up on most of the arches etc., in every place (in Belfast) was Cead Mile Failte which means a hundred thousand welcomes in Irish".
Irish words and non-Anglicised placenames would apparently distract the attention of cyclists from the work in foot and cause millions of television viewers around the world to wonder whether Ireland might have its own language and culture. That might even lead to the promotion of cultural tourism in Ireland. - Is mise, Sean Mac Mathuna,
ArdRunai, Conradh na Gaeilge, Baile Atha Cliath 2.