Gardaí prepare for 'Tour de Force'

Forty-five gardaí from various Garda districts throughout the country left Dublin airport today for Madrid on their annual ‘Tour De Force’ cycle’.

Over the next five days, members of all ranks will cycle 600 kilometres from Madrid to Marbella, and will be ‘set off’ on their run from Madrid by the Irish Ambassador to Spain Peter Gunning. The Mayor of Marbella will welcome them on Friday when a civic reception will be held at Marbella town hall.

Those who planned and take part in the event do so totally voluntarily, and on their own time, and this year, the fund raising cycle will attempt to raise in excess €100,00 for Debra Ireland, this year’s main charity.

Debra Ireland (the Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa Research Association) was founded by families of children with EB in 1988, and receives funding from donations, fund raising events, and grant support however they do not receive guaranteed government funding

DEBRA Ireland has called for, and supported the development of an Eb Liaison Nurse Service, now in place at Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin and at St James's Hospital, also in Dublin

The charity provides funding for medical research programmes in Trinity College, and co-funds the DEBRA Ireland – DEBRA UK Cancer In EB Campaign, and provides general support, respite holidays, information and advice to patients and their families.

Epidermolysis Bullosa -EB- is, as the charities website describes, a distressing and painful genetic skin disorder causing skin layers and body linings to separate and blister at the slightest touch. Children born with EB have skin that is so fragile it can damage and blister at the slightest touch

EB is a rare condition affecting 1 in 18,000 newborn children in Ireland, and is the name given to a group of genetic skin disorders, which cause skin blistering. In its mildest forms (generally EB Simplex), localised blistering causes significant distress particularly in the summer time. For those sufferers with the more severe forms, (generally EB Dystrophic), the extensive external scarring and internal blistering lead to general debilitation, deformity and disability.

Anyone who wants to attend fun raising events in the future organised by some members of An Garda Síochána can log on to www.tourdeforcecycle.com or for more information about the debilitating skin disease of EB, log on to www.debraireland.org