News : Donegal Poet Under Fire

The works of Donegal poet Cathal Searchaigh may be dropped from the syllabus for the Leaving Certificate examinations in Ireland following a controversial documentary about his personal life in Nepal.

The film, Fairytale of Katmandu, raised concerns that Searcaigh's gay lifestyle involved relationships with young men in the impoverished Asian country.

In answer to parliamentary question raised in the Dil, Minister for Education Mary Hanafin said an advisory body would review whether Searcaigh's poetry would remain on the syllabus after 2009. "There might be questions about the character of many people whose literature has been on courses for the past one hundred years," she said. "This is different however because it is a current case involving a person living in this country. Students must answer one question about the poet, which could cause difficulty."

The documentary was screened to the public at the Dublin Film Festival and is due to be broadcast on RTE (Ireland's national broadcaster) in the spring. In a statement published following the controversy, Cathal Searcaigh openly acknowledged his sexuality but refuted any suggestion that he preyed on vulnerable young men in Nepal. He expressed extreme disappointment with the film and said that any such interpretation of his lifestyle was "untrue and distasteful."