This Wednesday marks the centenary of the birth of Louis MacNeice, one of the most renowned poets of the 20th century. Paul Muldoon offers a personal assessment of MacNeice, along with other distinguished poets and critics. They reflect on his Celtic inheritance and its influence on the work; test the premise in the Times obituary that MacNeice was "a cat who walked by himself" and consider the circumstances of his death in 1963, occasioned by a visit to a cave in Yorkshire, followed by a drenching on the moors, leading to pneumonia. Those celebrating the vital legacy of MacNeice include Michael Longley , Derek Mahon , Peter McDonald , Edna Longley , Jon Stallworthy , Paul Farley , and Seamus Heaney , who declares "MacNeice is the pure drop. His place in English and Irish literature is secure". Producer Chris Spurr