So Micheál Martin wants Mandarin to be a Leaving Cert subject. It makes sense of course: if we want to do business in China, learning the language is a plus. But there are a few other subjects we should introduce for the benefit of our nation. Teaching our young folk how not to fiddle accounts would mean an honest and open banking sector. Don't Buy A Gaff 101 would teach thousands of people how to avoid negative equity.
A new politics course examining why no one should ever vote for Fianna Fáil again might be worth examining. So yes, Minister, Chinese is a good idea, but we've got a whole lot of other stuff to learn first.