Politics and Galway Races inextricably linked for county council chairman

Politics is often regarded as entertainment by many, but Meath County Council chairman, Cllr Eoin Holmes, has experience of both arts. He and his wife, Niamh Fagan, are the producers of 'Rasai na Gaillimhe', the hit TG4 series, the second series of which was launched last week. The series centres around the race week that has become infamous in political circles - Galway Race Week - and the backdrop of Ireland's most famous and successful race festival is once again the setting for an unfolding seven-part drama of dodgy schemes, misplaced dreams, wanton excesses and outright indulgence. Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Pat Rabbitte, launched the second series of TG4's entertaining comedy drama last week. The inaugural drama series was an IFTA winner, having made an impact with viewers right from the off. The very first episode aired in September 2009 and remains the most viewed original drama programme on TG4 to date. Some 223,000 people tuned in to that first episode at some stage, with the average audience through the entire programme of 92,000.