Cathal Ó Searcaigh was invited to appear on the Late Late Show tonight. However, this morning they appeared to get cold feet about allowing him to speak live, and, perhaps under legal pressure from Vinegar Hill, the production company behind the controversial film Fairytale of Kathmandu, informed him that they would only proceed if his  interview was pre-recorded.  Believing that this amounted to censorship, Ó Searcaigh declined to participate. However, he believes the original invitation was made in good faith.

My exclusive interview with him will be published in next Thursday’s Hot Press, which will be the first proper English-language interview he’s done since the scandal broke last year. (An English translation of his interview on RnaG is here.)

Previously, I’ve written about the film in Hot Press here and here. A blog post about the DVD that his friends in Nepal made in his defence is here. My Irish Times article is here. A comprehensive list of links relating to the scandal is here. Some worthwhile commentary on the affair is here and here.

For a limited period, the film itself is available for free download here.

Update: As per her comment below, Neasa Ní Chianán denies that Vinegar Hill put pressure on RTÉ to pre-record the interview.