Sir, – To contend, as Niall Farrell does (Letters, December 19th), that Seamus Heaney's "only political outing was . . . against Irish democracy" seems to me, at the very least, to be highly questionable, even from the inferred treasuring of individual voice in what Heaney says in Finders Keepers (Faber and Faber, 2002; page 16), "Finding a voice means that you can get your own feeling into your own words and that your words have the feel of you about them". You can feel the deep respect. Individual voice is a huge part of the democratic impulse and, furthermore, as two key concepts in democracy are individual freedom and social relationships, it seems highly unlikely to me that Seamus Heaney would in any way formally hamper the individual freedom of anyone of whatever nationality. It is not who he was/is. – Yours, etc,
Dr JAMES FINNEGAN,
Letterkenny,
Co Donegal.