Making a political point in Athboy

Fianna Fáil came in for a bit of a bashing, to say the least, at the recent general election, but in Athboy, some party members are being used for target practice, as Cllr Shane Cassells discovered at the St Patrick's Day Parade in the town. Cllr Cassells, the leas-cathaoirleach of Meath County Council, has family roots in Athboy and was invited to take part in the review of the parade. The local archery club invited dignitaries to take part in their display, and Cllr Cassells was given the job of holding the target. However, he got a surprise when he saw what the target was made of - recycled Fianna Fail election posters of Johnny Brady and Micheál Martin. However, he saw the funny side of it, and the crowd enjoyed the joke, too, as did RTE's north-east correspondent and local resident Richard Dowling and the RTE cameras, which used the political entertainment on their TV round-up of the country's parades.