Using Word with an Irish keyboard layout disables spell check

We recently reported on a bug in Final Cut Express, where the application would unexpectedly quit if you had your keyboard layout set up as "Irish" instead of "British".
Seemingly, the same problem effects Microsoft Word 2004 users. If you have your keyboard set to Irish, Word will not highlight misspelt items in a document until you select all text and change the language to "UK English". This has to be repeated for all documents, and each time you open them.
The solution, albeit a poor one, is to go to System Preferences -> International, and to choose "British" in the Input Menu. Turn off all other keyboards in the list.
Now you can return to Word and set the default language to UK English. To do this, open Word and choose "Language" from the Tools menu. Then select "English UK" from the list and click once on the "Default" button. You will be asked if you wish to change the default language, and you should click "Yes" and then "OK".
The unfortunate side effect of this change is that there may now be a small British flag in the top right of your screen. If you have enabled the character palette in System Preferences -> International -> Input Menu, you will then see the flag of the current language on your Mac. The only way to remove the flag is to deselect any palettes and any other keyboard layouts other than "British".
Its a shame that Microsoft or Apple haven't fixed this issue and hopefully it will appear in a future update.