Gearoid Mac Gearailt
Sir: Probably many readers felt that Stan Gebler Davies in his article about the present position of the Irish language (Dear acid tongue', 6 September) was unduly censorious towards that nice Dr Garret Fitzgerald. On the contrary he was treated very leniently. Whenever he has the opportunity the Taoiseach likes to demonstrate his fluent command of French. In contrast, he makes a great display of filial piety towards his parents, but seems to have a pathological hatred of the Irish language to which both his par- ents were devoted.
Under his government the status of Irish has steadily declined, but that did not prevent him from countersigning the Anglo-Irish Agreement in the guise of the very unfamilar `Gear6id Mac Gearailt'. His own tacit rejection of 'the first official language' has encouraged the hijacking of even the very word 'Irish'. For example The Faber Book of Contemporary Irish Poetry, edited by Paul Muldoon, includes no Irish poetry. Nine of the poets selected are or were geographic Irishmen, who, together with a statutory woman, have added to the store of English poetry. Someone buying the book on the basis of its title could presumably invoke descrip- tion of goods legislation. Despite cultural toadyism of this nature good poetry has been written in Irish over the period covered by Muldoon. Appalling as was the Taoiseach's unaccustomed signature in Irish, that went so much against the grain, it was a manifestation of the pressure for Irish in 'Northern Ireland' to have a similar status to that of Welsh in Wales.
Padraig 6 Conchair
Press Officer, London Branch, Celtic League, 88 Pulleyns Avenue, London E6
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