More than 200 cyclists have signed up for a biking trip this weekend which hopes to raise more than €150,000 to help doctors provide surgery to children with scoliosis and other health problems.

Around 300 cyclists are being sought for a biking trip from Cork to Dublin next month which is expected to raise more than €150,000 for a charity offering free surgery to children with scoliosis and other health problems.

More than 530 children are stuck on waiting lists for orthopaedic surgery, some of whom need urgent treatment for spinal curvature, a scenario described as "unacceptably dangerous" by a leading paediatric surgeon.

Little Niamh Harkin was diagnosed with what most of us know as "clicky hips" at the age of six months.

A clinic treating children for orthopaedic conditions such as congenital hip dysplasia (dislocation) and club foot is seeing up to 70 patients a day, even though the ideal number is 24, according to the surgeon involved.

Early screening of children with cerebral palsy would help prevent orthopaedic problems that can cause severe pain and affect quality of life, a conference in Cork heard yesterday.

Formerly conjoined twin Hassan Benhaffaf will require regular spinal surgery until he is an adult, his mother Angie has revealed.