Statement by Cathal Ó Searcaigh:It is with a heavy heart that I have read and listened to the media comment about the documentary Fairytale of Katmandu.
I opened my life and work in Nepal to someone I considered a friend. Someone who had made a film of me and my adopted son and family in Nepal less than a year earlier and who never raised any concerns to me at that time.
I believe the filmmakers never had any intentions of showing the work I have being doing in Nepal for some 13 years now. I have undertaken projects to provide water, housing, education and business opportunities for the people of Nepal.
I have made many friends, both male and female and I have taken great pleasure in seeing my small efforts change their lives for the better. The well being of the Nepalese people is of primary concern to me.
If my gay lifestyle and relationships in Nepal has offended anyone, I am sorry. But to suggest that I in any way coerced or preyed upon these young men is untrue and distasteful. My relationships in Nepal have always been open and loving and above board.
I have considered deeply the opinions put forward by my critics and I can see how my actions could have been misinterpreted. It hurts me to think that I would be seen in this light.
However, as my efforts to support and nurture the people of Nepal are more important to me than the privacy of my relationships, I have decided to establish a trust to administer whatever funds I am capable of providing in the future.
The trust will consist of Prem, my adopted son, Sunita his wife and my daughter-in-law, a Nepalese solicitor and accountant. I will distance myself completely from the distribution of funding for chosen projects. This will allow the work I have started in Nepal to continue and afford me the privilege of regaining some semblance of a private life.
I would finally like to say that the vast bulk of the money I used to help my friends in Nepal was my own income. Although I lived there for three months of the year, I support the educational and other projects all year round.
Is teann an taca an trócaire.