Initially, Neasa had decided that the film, entitled “Fairytale of Kathmandu” would be a tribute to her idol. But upon her visit to Nepal, she encountered such incidents that the film took a rather disturbing turn.[break]
She says she “had a gradual realization that all was not as we were being led to believe.”
Later, she learnt that Cathal had sexual relationship with many young boys in the country. To confirm her doubts, the director stayed back in the country and interviewed the boys she believed to have been exploited by the openly gay poet. The result being the boys agreed.
“We went from trusting Cathal Ó Searcaigh to doubting our own judgment, to not wanting to know, and finally having to confront the reality of the situation,” says Neasa.
In the documentary, the poet admits having sex with men in Nepal, but he denies any of them being underage. He claims that his activities were consensual as the boys are all 16 and therefore are independent for sexual consent according to the laws of Nepal.
Upon the release of the film, he accused Neasa of betrayal and scandal. On part of the filmmaker, however, she says the truth had to be told. Also, she says that her film is not about breaking laws but that her film highlights the need to protect vulnerable children.
The film raised quite a storm upon its release, as the poet was an immensely respected persona, his poems being included in Ireland’s educational curricula.
In a radio interview, Cathal says he was “betrayed” and that he was in the “vortex of a scandal.” He called the interview in the documentary “an entrapment” although agreeing to have slept with “very few men with consent.”
Later, in Februaury 2009, the poet was supposed to be interviewed at The Late Night Show, the official flagship television program of the Irish broadcasting company RTÉ. However, their decision to prerecord the interview so his words could be legally vetted made O Searcaigh withdraw from the program.
He was quoted by the Irish Times saying he would have been denied a “fair and unbiased” hearing if he had given a prerecorded interview. Also, he has claimed that the whole issue was “slanted” and that the sexual relationship was not a price for the patronage he was providing to “families in Nepal.”
The Week got in contact with Neasa Ni Chainain, the director, and she shared with with us her thoughts and experiences. Excerpts:
Film screenings and audience reactions
Fairytale had its world premiere at The International Documentary Festival in Amsterdam. It was screened in the Silver Wolf competition, which was highly prestigious, so it drew a huge amount of attention.
The first screening was to a sold-out audience of 400 people. I had to go on the stage and talk about the film, and answer questions from the audience immediately afterwards, which was terrifying, as I knew the film would evoke a lot of debate. And it did.
Most of the audience were 100% behind the film, and were full or praise for tackling the issues that we did. But there was a small part of the audience who said I was incredibly naive not to have realized earlier what Cathal was doing, and there were a few in that audience, in fact in every audience at every screening, who tried to defend the indefensible by claiming that I was persecuting a gay man.
I heard Irvine Welsh, the author of Trainspotting, reviewing my film and he said that the whole gay man thing was a red herring. He claimed that it would have been far more interesting if I had made a film about a man who was a sex tourist looking for girls in Thailand.
I think he missed the point. I didn’t set out to make a film about sex tourism, nor would I have any interest in following a sex tourist around watching him abusing girls in Thailand.
Yes, it’s unfortunate that the subject of my film turned out to be a sex tourist, and it’s unfortunate that he happened to be gay. However, is the fact that Cathal O Searcaigh was gay a reason not to tell the story? And who would I be protecting by not telling the story?
The reaction of the press towards the film
The majority of the press in Ireland supported my decision to broadcast the film, and condemned Cathal O Searcaigh’s abuse of his position of power and wealth in Nepal. However, certain elements of the Irish press took an editorial line in support of O Searcaigh, and attacked me as the whistleblower, with outrageous claims, such as that I had set out to trap him, that I had bribed the Nepali boys, that I was homophobic, that I was “using” Cathal O Searcaigh to further my own career.
All of these lies were particularly painful because I believed I was doing the right thing by telling the truth. In the end, the majority of newspapers and radio stations stood behind me. I also had to take legal actions against the largest Sunday newspaper in Ireland, which later publicly apologized to me.
The long time it took to release the film in Nepal
The film had most of its international festival screenings around the world in 2008 and 2009. If it had been invited to Nepal, we wouldn’t have hesitated to screen it here. Also, the problem was that the film didn’t fit easily into any normal cinema screening slots. It’s one hour long, a little too short for a cinema release.
It’s a documentary, again difficult for release as cinema. And finally, it’s about sex tourism, a difficult subject for cinema audiences. Cine Symposium was the first Nepali festival to invite the film, and to offer a post-screening discussion. We would also be happy to have the film shown on Nepali television channels.
The current state of this case in Ireland
A Garda (Irish Police) investigation into the activities of Cathal O Searcaigh in Nepal, as far as we’re aware, is still active. But as of now, no criminal charges have ever been laid against O Searcaigh.
There is an Irish law, the Sexual Offenders (Jurisdiction) Act 1996, which allows for the prosecution in Ireland of Irish citizens who commit sexual offences against children outside this jurisdiction.
O Searcaigh has never denied sex with Nepali boys over 16. In Ireland, the age of consent is 17. So, had O Searcaigh committed the acts in Ireland that he has committed in Nepal, he could have been prosecuted here.
However, the Sexual Offenders (Jurisdiction) Act 1996 requires that the law also be broken in the country where the act takes place – in this case, Nepal, which has an age of consent of 16.
However, being aware of the lack of formal birth registration in developing countries, the Sexual Offenders (Jurisdiction) Act does allow for a court’s discretion on the age of a victim.
This act, introduced in 1996 with cross-party support in the Irish Parliament, has never been tested in Irish courts.
While Cathal continues to write poetry at home in Donegal, it is unknown if he still visits Nepal.
In the meantime, Fairytale of Kathmandu is to be screened as a part of Documentary Open Skool Docskool’s Nepal Cine Symposium on Sunday, November 20 at 12.45 pm.
The venue for the screening is Nepal Tourism Board Auditorium.
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