Minister for Education Mary Hanafin has defended the assistance she gave poet Cathal Ó Searcaigh in securing a visa for a Nepalese friend of his to visit Ireland, adding she was "appalled and shocked" by recent reports concerning the poet's relations with teenage boys in Nepal.
Last week the Garda confirmed they were investigating Mr Ó Searcaigh's activities in Nepal after a documentary about the Donegal poet raised concerns.
In the film Fairytale of Kathmandu, director Neasa Ní Chianáin accompanies Mr Ó Searcaigh to the Nepalese capital to document his educational work but goes on to express unease about his relationship with young men there.
One teenager is filmed going to the poet's hotel room and the hotel manager later tells the filmmaker that he had asked Mr Ó Searcaigh's young Nepalese friend to stop bringing so many boys to the poet's room.
In a statement, a spokeswoman for Ms Hanafin confirmed Mr Ó Searcaigh had contacted her in 1998 seeking assistance, through her constituency colleague, the then minister for foreign affairs David Andrews, in getting a visa for an adult friend of his to visit Ireland.
Ms Hanafin, who had known Mr Ó Searcaigh in college, said this was a "type of routine request" for visa assistance frequently made by TDs to ministers.
Reports in a Sunday newspaper suggesting the visa was for a minor were "false and untrue", the spokeswoman said.
The age of the applicant was verified when the visa application record was examined last Friday. The date of birth on the application was 1979 making him 19 at the time of the visa request.
"This was the only representation made by Mary Hanafin on behalf of Cathal Ó Searcaigh. Minister Hanafin is appalled and shocked by recent reports and revelations in relation to Mr Ó Searcaigh," the spokeswoman added.
Last week Mr Ó Searcaigh issued a statement describing his portrayal in the documentary as "not only distorted and inaccurate but also very damaging to my reputation".
In the film Mr Ó Searcaigh is shown saying that he had sex with some youths "but I wasn't coercing them into having sex . . . that door was open all the time".
The film points out that none of the young men were under 16, the age of consent in Nepal. The age of consent in Ireland is 17 years and there is a provision to prosecute an Irish citizen who is involved in the sexual exploitation of a child outside the State.
The documentary will be screened at the Dublin International Film Festival on February 18th and 21st and will be shown on RTÉ on March 13th.