Imagine if you couldn’t read a simple text message.

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I’m a two fingered typist and I can’t tell you how many words I type in a miniute, because you would only laugh. I get by though, no thanks to the person responsible for designing the modern keyboard. What were they at?

The ‘Qwerty’ layout gets its name from the first six letters on the top row but why not just place them in alphabetical order instead?

One explanation I heard was that the keys on the original typewriters stuck together regularly when typing at speed, so the strange keyboard was designed to slow the typists down. That doesn’t make sense though because touch typists don’t even look at the keys.

Anyway, if you can’t read or write, it makes no difference what kind of keyboard is in front of you, it still won’t make any sense. That’s what life is like for people who are illiterate. They can’t recognise those letters and have no idea how to put them together to form words.

Reading isn’t only essential for normal everyday life, it’s also an enjoyable pastime, but there are many who find themselves locked out of that world. It’s estimated there are about 781 million adults worldwide over the age of 15 who are illiterate.

The National Adult Literacy Agency is an independent charity in Ireland committed to making sure people with literacy and numeracy difficulties can fully take part in society and have access to learning opportunities that meet their needs.

In their 2019 report they pointed out that 1 in 4 adults struggles with everyday maths such as working out a 20% discount or dividing up a bill and 1 in 6 adults finds everyday text, such as a bus timetable or medical instructions, hard to read and understand. Those statistics shocked me.

For as long as I can remember, I have been a big reader. As a child, I walked down to the local library every Saturday morning to change my books. Most of my friends did the same. It was a ritual and there was a buzz out of picking up a new read to get stuck into.

I have maintained this passion all through my adult life and there is never an occasion when I don’t have a book on the go. Call me sad, but I love a good browse in a book shop. I could spend the day in there inhaling the smell of the paper, the glue and the ink.

Even though I have a Kindle now, my preferred option will always be the paper version. The Kindle has a lot of advantages, being light and easy to carry, especially when travelling. Being able to download a novel in a matter of seconds is a bonus too, but you just can’t beat the feel of the real thing.

By the way, I have no difficulty loaning a book to someone but if you ever borrow a book from me, do not under any circumstances bend the corners of the pages to mark your spot. That is complete vandalism and could earn you a world of pain.

But whether it’s a book or a Kindle, reading is something that every child should be encouraged to do. It is regarded as one of the most important practices to stimulate the intellectual development in kids. A child will never be alone if he or she can get involved in a book and experts will also tell you it does wonders for a child’s vocabulary, comprehension, independence and confidence.

Most readers agree that a film is never as good as the book either so, whether you’re a bookworm or a curious child or someone who just likes to read a newspaper, there is a world of entertainment to be had from reading. It’s not for everyone though.

Ashley Armstrong wrote a story in The Guardian about Chris Dawson who is the billionaire founder of ‘The Range’ which is a chain of retail- shops in the UK, selling everything from lawn-mowers and hammocks to artists’ sketch-pads.

He now has 160 shops including one in Eastgate in Little Island in Cork and his annual sales are counted in the hundreds of millions of pounds. Mr Dawson, aged 68, claims he is unable to read or write properly and started out as a market trader in Plymouth before he founded ‘The Range’ in 1989.

He says he has never written a letter in his life or read a book but despite his illiteracy, he has gone on to make his fortune. He told The Sunday Times: “I was put on this planet to make money and I start thinking about it the minute I wake up. He said he “didn’t see much of school at all and left without being able to read or write properly.”

He started out selling teas to builders on construction sites at the age of 14, before progressing to selling watches from a briefcase on a market stall. He sold everything he could get his hands on from the back of a lorry and used the profits from his wheeler-dealing to open his first store. He is very successful, but Dawson is more the exception than the rule.

Illiteracy isn’t as rare in Ireland as you might think either and we rank 15th out of 24 countries. At this level a person may be unable to understand basic written information. But there is help available for those who want it, so it’s not the end of the world.

Free literacy and numeracy classes are provided nationwide by the Education and Training Board adult literacy service and classes are open to all. Nobody has to suffer in silence and help is available. There is a whole new world waiting to be explored for those who take that first step.