Last weekend I went to my first ball... yes, I've had a deprived life, I know!

In aid of Cystic Fibrosis and held in the Rochestown Park Hotel, it was the Sixty Five Roses Ball, so named because a child suffering from Cystic Fibrosis was unable to pronounce the name of the condition and so he made up his own much lovelier words for it.

Of course the ball was a lot of fun but also there was a lot to be learned from the occasion:
Cystic Fibrosis is Ireland's most common life-threatening genetically inherited disease. Approximately 1 in 20 people are carriers of the CF gene and where two carriers parent a child together, there is a 1 in 4 chance of the baby being born with CF. Unfortunately Ireland has the worst survival statistics in the developed world with a life expectancy of 25 years here compared with 35 years in the UK.

Cystic Fibrosis affects the glands, damaging many organs, including the lungs, pancreas, the digestive tract and the reproductive system. It causes thick sticky mucus to be produced, blocking the bronchial tubes and preventing the body's natural enzymes from digesting food. There is no cure for the condition but medical research is on-going in the hope of finding such a cure.

One of the hopes is that an isolation unit will be built at CUH, as currently when CF patients are treated, they are sharing wards with people might have colds, flus and other contagious ailments. However, the CF patients find it harder to fight those ailments and it takes an uneccessary toll on their bodies.

Anyway, that's the science bit... now the money bit....

I met two very inspirational mothers who were instrumental in organising the ball last Saturday. Caroline O'Leary is mum to Cian, aged four and Arron, aged two, who both have cystic fibrosis. Olive Hughes' five-year-old daughter also has CF. Happily the hard work they and other committe members have put in, has resulted in the region of 40,000 euro being raised through the ball and its auction and raffle. A big congratulations to them on a remarkable achievement, especially as it is the first year of this particular ball. However, more money needs to be raised and there is a bank account set up for donations. The details are: "Sixty Five Roses Ball" 93-43-48-36646025 Allied Irish Bank, Douglas Road, Cork.