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.