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Seamus Heaney, by Fintan O’Toole: His death 10 years ago was ‘the end of a great eloquence’

Benign but not bland, temperate but not soft, the late poet is irreplaceable as a public figure

Seamus Heaney photographed by Bobbie Hanvey. Photograph courtesy of Bobbie Hanvey Photographic Archives/John J Burns Library/Boston College
Seamus Heaney photographed by Bobbie Hanvey. Photograph courtesy of Bobbie Hanvey Photographic Archives/John J Burns Library/Boston College

Fintan O’Toole

Fintan O’Toole

Fintan O’Toole, a contributor to The Irish Times, writes a weekly opinion column