A POLITICAL CARTOONIST has appealed for public help in recovering a series of framed illustrations which may have been stolen from a train yesterday while he was bringing them to a festival.

Donal Casey was bringing 25 original A3 illustrations on a train from Dublin to Athlone yesterday evening when the black Samsonite bag in which they were being transported went missing.

“Somewhere between Kildare, Newbridge or Portarlington stations the bag was unfortunately stolen,” he said.

“The pictures cannot be of any real use to anyone, so they may well have been abandoned in one of these towns, or somewhere nearby.

“What I’m hoping for is that the bag will just turn up – people will nick it and think, ‘What are these?’, and just abandon them.”

The works were being brought to Athlone ahead of the Athlone Literary Festival next month, when they are to go on public display.

The illustrations, all of them originals, date from the last three or four years. A selection of them have been published in publications like Magill.

The works were being carried on the 17.10 service from Dublin to Athlone yesterday evening.

Anyone with information on their whereabouts is asked to contact Gardaí in Athlone on (0906) 492609, or the Athlone Literary Festival at (086) 2282760.