Madam, - It is frequently stated (most recently in An Irishman's Diary, November 21st) that only since the 2003 arts legislation has the Arts Council given funding in to support circus. This is incorrect. The Arts Council gave grants totalling £32,000 (€42,000) to Fossett's Circus over the three years 1983, 1984 and 1985, as its annual reports for those years reveal. I believe a further grant was given in the late 1990s. - Yours, etc,
DAVID McCONNELL,
Arts Consultant,
Villiers Road,
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Dublin 6.