Tenses diffuse tensions over Watson’s "Irish dumb" ramblings

Sixty years ago, he unlocked the mystery of genes, but lately he seems to be more focused on the one that causes mischief.

James Watson, one half of the Watson and Crick pairing who discovered the structure of DNA, left audiences baffled, not by his dizzying knowledge, but by his savaging of the Irish intellect.

Visiting Dublin’s Mater Hospital to open a new cancer and haematology unit, the Nobel prizewinner was quizzed about comments he made in the US last month when he said Irish curse was not alcohol, but ignorance.