The Celtic tiger may yet turn on its master

Seamus Heaney fears that old Ireland is in danger of losing its soul, of driving a stake through its sacred heart. Which is to say that the 1995 Nobel laureate is upset, very upset, about a motorway. His protest is typically rhapsodic and not calculated to appeal, perhaps, to politicians, planners and civil engineers, but that does not render it invalid. The poet has joined a growing number of people who believe that Ireland's economic boom has come at too high a price. Yet he speaks out, ironically enough, just as Alex Salmond is encouraging the Scots to emulate the "independence and prosperity" of the Irish.