Poet Speaks About Rape Claim

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Poet Speaks About Rape Claim

March 26, 2008

By Paddy Clancy

CONTROVERSIAL Gaelic poet Cathal O Searcaigh has spoken of his worry that he is viewed as a rapist.

In his first interview since a row flared over his homosexual links to young men in Nepal he said, “I’m surprised that the Rape Crisis Center has become involved in this. You’d think I was a rapist. I’m charged with this and that, but this is what happens when you’re in the center of a publicity circus.”

O Searcaigh, who is openly gay, also revealed in the interview that he is hurt that students studying his poetry are referring to him as a rapist.

He told RTE’s Irish language radio station, Raidio na Gaeltachta, “A friend of mine has told me of a teacher who is currently teaching my poetry and that a pupil came into class and asked did they have to study that rapist. That sort of thing goes to my heart.”

The interview, which was aired on Wednesday, is the only one he has given since the screening of the documentary, Fairytale of Kathmandu, which was initially intended as a tribute to his work but which became an expose of his gay flings with young men in Nepal when the director, a former friend, became disillusioned by what she claimed was his abuse of power and exploitation of poverty-stricken people.

O Searcaigh fled his Co. Donegal home when the row broke. Last week he turned down an invitation to appear on RTE’s Late Late Show, choosing instead to be interviewed in his native language.

The hour-long interview, carried out at an undisclosed location over last weekend, is unlikely to quell the row.

The fallout from the controversy has threatened the release of O Searcaigh’s memoirs due on September 1.

Publishers Simon and Schuster said it was reconsidering its plans for the book, Light On Distant Hills, because of the controversy surrounding the poet’s activities in Nepal.

A spokesman for the company said there was concern that a police investigation has been launched into O Searcaigh’s relationships with Nepalese teenagers.

The spokesman added, “We want to follow the investigation and get all the facts to see if we publish this year.”

He said it was possible the book could be pulled. “We’re not going to make a big to-do about it. We’re not hiding anything. We will take the responsible view. We will make a decision and we will make a very responsible decision.”

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