Irish President's praise for the work of Dylan Thomas

Dylan Thomas has been saluted as 'one of the greatest poets ever to write' by the President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins.

He spoke of the way that both Welsh and Irish writers have made the English language their own.

Wherever there are those of us who are engaged in the English language -we have all had a go- he will be remembered. We share a way of turning the English language into something beyond itself, what I call the English contradiction within a Celtic imagination.

President Higgins, whose own poetry has been published, was speaking in Cardiff at the end of his official visit to Wales.

Last night, he took part in the so-called 'Dylanathon' in Swansea, when all the writings of Dylan Thomas were read aloud to mark the centenary of his birth.