Eoghan Harris (Independent)

I was struck by the silence of The Irish Times on this issue. Everyone is petrified of the Ó Searcaigh case. There is total silence — not a word of protest — from the great liberal organ The Irish Times this morning. I deplore any abuse by Cathal Ó Searcaigh of his position in the Third World, but I also deplore any measure that would remove a poet from the syllabus in Ireland. We should now be a grown-up society which is prepared to engage with moral and ethical issues and with the problem posed by a good poet who may not be such a good man in human terms. These are the moral issues which help our children to grow up.