Ó Searcaigh poems to remain on Leaving Cert

THE work of poet Cathal Ó Searcaigh is to remain on the Leaving Certificate Irish syllabus for at least the next two years.

The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA), which advises Education Minister Mary Hanafin on what poems and stories should be studied for state exams, discussed the issue at its monthly meeting last night.

While the recent controversy about Mr Ó Searcaigh was not a specific item on the council’s agenda, it arose during the consideration of prescribed texts for Irish exams after next year’s Leaving Certificate.

It is understood that following a lengthy discussion, the council decided to recommend no changes to the coursework.

There had been expectations in some quarters that the NCCA would remove Mr Ó Searcaigh from the list of prescribed poets, a move that children’s advocacy groups have demanded.

The celebrated Irish language poet was dealt a further blow yesterday when his public relations adviser, Liam Gaskin, announced he was quitting over what he described as a ‘misunderstanding’. In a statement, Mr Gaskin said he believed Mr Ó Searcaigh was exploited by filmmaker Neasa Ni Chianain, describing her film as an “unbalanced and biased” documentary.

He also castigated RTÉ, which part-funded the documentary. “I believe that RTÉ participated in the worst form of tabloid television, purely for ratings and revenue,” he said. Early indications are that the film will top the ratings for any TV programme this month.

However, Mr Gaskin said he was withdrawing as spokesman because friends of the poet had sent him video footage of a boy called Ram, which he understood to be that of a close friend of the poet.

“An individual in footage sent to me from Nepal by friends of Cathal was identified to me incorrectly as a different Ram, and the material was distributed to the media in good faith.”

Mr Gaskin said that although it was an innocent error, it compromised his principles and professional integrity, forcing him to withdraw his services.

Education Minister Mary Hanafin will make the final decision about the poet’s work on the Leaving Certificate, based on advice from the NCCA.

She admitted in the Dáil last month that continuing to include Ó Searcaigh’s poetry in the curriculum could pose a problem.

“There might be questions about the character of many people whose literature has been on courses for the past 100 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.”

She said, however, that as students may already have done considerable work on his poems for the 2008 and 2009 Leaving Certificate examinations, it would be unfair to remove them now.

Ms Hanafin said she was “shocked and appalled” by what she had learnt of the poet’s behaviour.

In a recent statement, Mr Ó Searcaigh said if his gay lifestyle and relationships in Nepal had offended anyone, he was sorry, but to suggest he had coerced or preyed upon young men was “untrue and distasteful”.