Ó Searcaigh claims Nepal film distorted and unfair

THE POET Cathal Ó Searcaigh has strongly criticised his portrayal in the documentary Fairytale of Kathmandu, saying it gave a distorted and unfair impression of his relationships with young Nepalese men.

In his first interview since the film was broadcast on RTÉ earlier this month, Ó Searcaigh told Raidió na Gaeltachta he was deeply upset by the controversy but rejected accusations of exploitation and said the piece gave no sense of the long-standing, affectionate relationships he had with Nepalese friends.

Speaking in Irish, he said: "I was never using these men for sexual gratification . . . I'm in contact with them while I'm in Ireland. There are bank accounts to show that I give them financial support on a continual basis - much more support than when I'm in Nepal," he said.

The poet said he gives about three-quarters of his income to people in Nepal and claimed that, while the film showed him buying a bicycle for one friend, it did not mention that he also bought books and clothes for many people, and paid the hospital bills of sick acquaintances. Some of his friends in Nepal were women, he added.

Presenter Áine Ní Churráin put it to Ó Searcaigh that viewers could see a middle-aged Irishman who was using his money and power to exploit young men. In reply, Ó Searcaigh said this was a biased view that had been sown by the film-makers.

He said: "I'm portrayed as someone devilish and as if there's no goodness in me at all. I don't think that's the sort of person I am. I don't want to boast and put myself forward as a great man. I have my faults just like everyone else, but at the same time I think there is a basic goodness in me that doesn't come across in that portrayal."

Ó Searcaigh has accepted that he had sexual relationships with young men in Nepal, but says these were founded on long-established, affectionate friendships.

Asked about footage showing young men visiting his hotel room in Kathmandu, he said: "The door was open while I was there. People were free to come in. That hotel room was my home for the long periods I spent in Nepal, like my home in Mín a Lea . . . but that's not to say that I was having sex with everyone who came to my room, or that I was sexually assaulting anyone."

He was sharply critical of the film-makers' editing and technique, saying the documentary was made in such a way as to demonise him.

While his contributions were in Irish, the director's personal commentary was in English, which created an "essential imbalance" in that his words were mediated through subtitles while the director spoke directly to the viewer.

He said several innocent scenes were loaded with sinister overtones, and cited as an example an image of him adjusting a Nepalese boy's tie. "It's clear that that picture had only one meaning - that I was grooming these young men so that they would be there for sexual relations. That's a huge betrayal - not only of me but of [ the young man] Narang."

Of those young men who were interviewed for the programme, the poet claimed one individual had subsequently sought and received an assurance from the film-maker that his contribution would not be included.

The poet said the first he became aware of the eventual focus of the documentary was when the film crew visited his home in Donegal to record a final interview. He was exhausted and jet-lagged after a long journey, but out of politeness tried to answer director Neasa Ní Chianáin's questions. "I wasn't given the slightest hint of what was to come," he said.

Ó Searcaigh also said he was surprised the Rape Crisis Centre had been drawn into the controversy. "You'd think I'm a rapist . . . I'm accused of this and that, but that's what happens when you're at the centre of a publicity circus like this," he said.

Remarking that the events of recent weeks would continue to affect his life in the future, Ó Searcaigh said: "It upsets me greatly. But when you're in an abyss, there is always hope. I think a lot these days of Oscar Wilde, who went through this kind of hardship as well in his day and who said 'we are all in the gutter but some of us are looking up at the stars'. This gives me encouragement, to look from the abyss to the stars."

In a statement issued yesterday afternoon, the Rape Crisis Network accused the poet of nit-picking over certain shots in the film while avoiding the main issues.

Fiona Neary, its director, said: "He fails to recognise that having sex with very poor teenagers that you are giving charity to, and who have relatively very little sexual knowledge, is sexual exploitation.

"Citing the age of consent as a defence is very neat but Ó Searcaigh is unable to recognise that he exploited a situation where others were very vulnerable and where he had great power over them."