"Show must go on": Dean Crowe panto to go ahead despite Athlone protest delays

The Dean Crowe Theatre's annaul panto 'Jack and the Beanstalk' will go ahead on Saturday, despite large traffic delays due to the Athlone Mercosur protest.

The show will take the stage at both 2pm and 7.30pm on Saturday, January 10.

A statement by the Dean Crowe read: "The Dean Crowe Theatre panto will go ahead on Saturday please give yourself plenty of time to get here! The show must go on."

Meanwhile the Athlone Mercosur protest is set to cause serious traffic disruption across the town, with a convoy of hundreds of tractors and other large vehicles travelling west to east on the N6 Athlone Relief Road between junction 12 (Roscommon Road) and junction 9 (Garrycastle).

Organisers are expecting between 5,000 and 10,000 people to gather in Athlone this Saturday for a major national protest rally against the EU's proposed Mercosur trade deal with countries in South America.

The event is set to take place from around 11am to 4pm.