Madam, - I found Gabriel Rosenstock's arguments (February 22nd) quite ridiculous. It is offensive to think that any poet should argue that criticism of Cathal Ó Searcaigh is merely intolerance of "the madness that is poetic sensibility". Poets - and other artists - are not above ordinary responsibilities; they are not governed by some unique moral and ethical considerations. To claim they are is insulting.
While it may be interesting to note the number of artists and writers who have engaged in the current debate, it is equally interesting to note the much larger number who have kept out of it. One might be forgiven for thinking that a communal sense of guilt has affected our artistic community - that they have regarded fellow artists too readily as possessed of truth and honesty by dint of their creative vocation, keepers of a moral wisdom not bestowed upon ordinary men.
How appalling the revelation and how saddening, therefore, that they must be judged as ordinary mortals are judged, just as they are subject to the same sins. - Yours, etc,
FRED JOHNSTON,
Circular Road,
Galway.