O’Donoghue jumps through hoops to balance circus act

AS a veteran politician, Arts Minister John O’Donoghue is well accustomed to walking tightropes, but he didn’t have to go on the high wire when he visited Fossett’s Circus in Killarney at the weekend.

The Fossett family, whose big top has been a familiar sight all over Ireland for generations, invited the minister as a special guest to honour his contribution to the circus.

Mr O’Donoghue is believed to be the first minister in Europe to officially recognise circus as a mainstream art form on a par with theatre or ballet, enabling circuses to qualify for State grant aid.

“Mr O’Donoghue has kept a promise which he made some years ago to ring-fence the circus as a pillar art form,” said Robert Fossett, one of six family members including his mother Hertr, who run the circus.

In making an amendment to the 2003 Arts Act, Mr O’Donoghue said he was conscious of the campaign begun in 1973 by the late Teddy Fossett to have circus recognised as an art form. “That amendment placed Ireland well ahead of most other European countries in recognising the circus as an important art form in its own right and not just a subset of theatre,” he said.

Financial aid for the circus, provided through the Arts Council and his own department, could transform the future of the circus in Ireland, he added.

In recent years, Fossett’s Circus has received €285,000 in grants.

Robert Fossett said the circus would find it extremely difficult to survive now without State aid.

“Our costs are enormous. We have 50 staff, 27 trucks and an 850-seat big top, as well as lighting and sound equipment, trailers and living accommodation which have to be transported from location to location every week.”

Many traditional circus sites have been built on and are no longer available, leading to problems finding suitable locations.

“Cork has become the first city in Ireland to have a dedicated site set aside for circuses. We believe every city and town should have such a site,” said Mr Fossett.

Hertr Fossett said foreign nationals were boosting audiences in Ireland.

“These people come from countries where there’s a lot more appreciation and respect for the circus,” she said.