Bikers to rev up for special twins

BIKERS have been urged to saddle up for a very special fundraising event to help Ireland’s beautiful conjoined eight-week-old twins.

Jay Keating, an uncle of Hassan and Hussein Benhaffaf, the pair who captured the nation’s heart after their appearance on the Late Late Show on Friday night, is organising a bike run from Midleton, Co Cork, on March 7.

Jay is a member of the Rebel Riders motorcycle club which every year organises a Christmas toy run, and raises money for children’s hospitals and Marymount Hospice.

Jay appealed last night for bikers from around the country to help him raise money for his nephews this time.

“I would be delighted if I got 300 motorcycle owners taking part in this event,” he said.

The twins, who are joined at the chest, are due to travel to London later this year with their parents, Angie and Azzedine, and their big sisters, Malika and Iman, for a complex separation procedure.

But that operation, and the huge financial costs that are associated with it, including spending months in Britain, were far from their minds at the weekend.

President Mary McAleese invited to them to tea at Áras an Úachtaráin on Friday afternoon, before they were whisked back to the luxury Westbury Hotel to prepare for their Late Late Show appearance.

President McAleese and her husband, Dr Martin McAleese, Late Late Show host Ryan Tubridy, and his guests, Heather Mills, and Irish rugby star Paul O’Connell, all signed Angie’s special book.

“Heather Mills gave me her number and said if there is anything she could do in the months ahead, she would help,” Angie said.

“It was a great weekend, especially for Malika and Iman. It warmed my heart to see them smiling after a black few months.”