Madam, – At the announcement of the appointment of Harry Clifton as Ireland’s new Professor of Poetry, (Home News, July 1st) the previous professor Michael Longley, advised him to be honest with his students, but to “temper the wind to the shorn lamb”. Also present were, amongst others, Theo Dorgan, Hugo Hamilton and Michael O’Siadhail.
In his acceptance address, Mr Clifton spoke of teaching as being “a secret activity”, and that the mythical poet’s teaching room must be protected from “the kind of people who have too strong an agenda”. He characterised these as the “university ideologue, the moduliser, the smurfitiser and the harvardiser”! Our Taoiseach, Brian Cowen was also present to announce the appointment. The best he (or his speechwriter) could come up with was that the arts had a big part to play in getting Ireland “back on track” and that “Ireland is a brand”.
Is it any wonder that if those in power cannot use language imaginatively, we are in a “state of chassis”. – Yours, etc,
