Poetry is nothing less than an aspiration to absolute truth. - Dennis O'Driscoll

Seamus Heaney is no more Irish than that other poet of the local, universal and eternal , James Joyce. Both men think locally and globally.

The rhythm of poetry and the routine of work are interdependent for some poets

However much poetry may be respected in Ireland , this respect more often translates , in practice, into tolerance and acceptance, rather than support. Poetry is a 'nice' thing to live with , as long as it does not come too close.