Interpol is co-operating over poet, say gardaí

GARDAÍ confirmed yesterday contact through Interpol is continuing with authorities in Nepal in relation to the sexual encounters of Irish poet Cathal Ó Searcaigh with teenage boys.

The emergence of a Garda inquiry comes after the screening of a controversial television documentary last week, called Fairytale of Kathmandu, exploring the 52-year-old poet’s sexual relationship with Nepalese teenage boys.

It revealed the poet had been sexually intimate with boys aged 16 and older, whose education Mr Ó Searcaigh had been supporting.

It was yesterday confirmed Interpol is co-operating with gardaí investigating the Donegal poet’s encounters with the teenage boys.

Nepalese detectives are expected to interview the youths the gay poet was sexually active with.

“We have been in contact with the authorities in Nepal,” said the Garda Press Office.

The inquiries by gardaí through the international police service Interpol are “ongoing”, said gardaí. They could not say last night when inquiries through Interpol about Cathal O’Searcaigh had begun though, despite reports co-operation with Nepal was initiated back in 2006.

The poet has rejected suggestions in the documentary that he sexually exploited teenage boys in Nepal. However, he has gone into hiding. It is believed works of poet Cathal Ó Searcaigh are to remain on the Leaving Certificate Irish syllabus for at least the next two years.

The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, which advises Education Minister Mary Hanafin, decided at its most recent meeting not to change poems and stories on the syllabus for state exams.

In a statement issued to the Late Late Show on Friday night, 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”.

According to weekend reports, gardaí have sought, among other matters, clarification on laws governing sexual relations from Nepalese detectives.

One report suggested gardaí were also actively inquiring about Mr O’Searcaigh’s whereabouts and were preparing to interview teenage boys who he had been involved with.