Animal rights protesters outside the circus on Esmonde St. Gorey on St Patrick’s Day. Pic: Christy Farrell.

The controversial Belly Wein Circus from Germany, which brought Gardaí onto the streets of Gorey to quell flared tempers between animal rights protesters and circus staff, last month, have folded their tent and left Ireland seven months before a nationwide tour was due to end.

The circus brought over 70 performing animals on tour, which sparked a wave of pubic protests that resulted in poor attendances. They spent four days in Gorey before moving to Tallaght, but the protests continued.

The circus packed up last week and went to France less than two months into its nine month tour of Ireland.

With no legislation in place to prohibit similar shows from travelling to Ireland, Animal Defenders International (ADI) and Animal Rights Action Network (ARAN) have renewed their call on the Government to ban wild animal acts.

The move away from performing animals is supported by Irish circuses who spoke out against the Belly Wein, with Marketing Manager of Fossett’s Circus, Charles O’Brien, tell RTE Radio 1 that Belly Wein had “set circus back 30 years.”

The Belly Wein Circus entered and left this country via Rosslare Europort and Gorey was the only Wexford venue where the circus set up in mid-March for four days.

Paddy, a healthy baby camel, was born in Esmonde Street on St Patrick’s Day while the circus was in town.

Story this week in THE GOREY ECHO.