French riots a wake-up call for us to heed the grievances of our young people, too
Sir, – On reading Naomi O’Leary about the student protests in France (“ France’s school protests: What lies behind the anger ”, World News, October 8th), I remembered the student unrest in Paris in May 1968 and how it inspired so many of us who are now in our mid to late 70s. I echo William Wordsworth’s words as he looked back on the early days of the French Revolution: “Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive / But to be young was very heaven!”. – Yours, etc, FELIX M LARKIN, Cabinteely, Dublin 18. Sir, –Sean Keavney makes a good point: Ireland is not immune and should pay heed to what is happening here in France (“ French protests a timely warning for Irish schools ”, Letters, October 8th). Some of the dysfunction in the system here only applies to France and goes back decades. There are desperately low teacher salaries and absurdly long school days, often from 8am to 6pm. But what is achievable, and where French mismanagement serves as a wake-up call, would be to give students a proper structure to express their grievances and not leave it to political groups to organise them and bring them on to the streets. Is aoibhinn beatha an scoláire? Only if the grown-ups get their act together. – Yours, etc, CIARÁN MAC GUILL, Clichy, An Fhrainc.