Running away to join the circus pays off for teacher Tara

Rose Cashin Hardiman of Mayo and Tara Dunne of Galway in Circus Extreme, in Cork until September 24.

Meet the teacher from the West of Ireland who has followed her dream and swapped the classroom for the circus.

It has been a steep learning curve for qualified primary-school teacher and fiddle player Tara Dunne, 31, who joined Circus Extreme on Wednesday afternoon and performed in her first live show in Cork that evening as the circus embarked on the Irish leg of its world tour.