Colm O'Regan: I'm glad my kids don't have to see unhappy animals at the circus

Watching our two kids experience the circus for the first time was just lovely. It was fairly different to the circus in Dripsey I went to years ago

"There were people cycling on the high-wire, high enough for us to look through our fingers, people swinging each other around with their teeth."

We went to the circus last week. The children’s first time. There’s something about the circus arriving to town that makes you feel like you’re in a kid’s mystery book and something is afoot. The Famous Five had an adventure with a circus in Five Go Off In A Caravan. (Go off as in head away, not start to smell or lose the rag) FGOIAC gave Enid Blyton a chance to express society’s (okay her) worst fears about circus types like Lou and Tiger Dan and their general dodginess.

I’m pleased to say the Circus Extreme was most definitely not infamous jewel thieves whose camp was above a cave storing their loot. They don’t need to.