The uses of Irish

SIR – I was once asked by a relative to buy a Sunday Missal in Irish while on a visit to Dublin.

I asked a young shop assistant in a large Dublin bookshop if the book I had selected was indeed a Missal. He could not help. I turned to customers, of various ages, to see if any of them understood Irish. None did. I asked the assistant if he had learnt Irish at school. He said he had but, because it was “of no use”, he had forgotten it.

If various generations of Dubliners cannot see any relevance in the Irish language, why should those in Belfast or other parts of Northern Ireland (report, February 16)?

Moreover, if Irish is to be on the curriculum in Northern Ireland, Irish children living elsewhere in the UK (who have a right to dual nationality) should have the same right to learn it. Ann O’brien

Leeds, West Yorkshire