The (Irish) cat appears well and truly out of the bag this week, if the testimony of Nicky Larkin is to be believed. Mr Larkin, an avowed Palestinian sympathiser, received nearly £30,000 from the Irish Arts Council to make a film about the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

The film, however, was not what the Arts Council or the massed ranks of Irish pro-Palestinian activists expected - because it was fair and gave a voice to Israelis as well as Palestinians. Amid howls of outrage when the film was screened in Dublin, it has emerged that those shrieking most loudly have benefited rather nicely from similar grants.

Now Mr Larkin - whose four subsequent bids for Arts Council funding have since been turned down - has suggested that much of the pro-Palestinian bandwagon consists of people cosying up to the Arts Council to further their careers. His point is well-made - and lances the poisonous politics of Ireland's cultural bigots.