Banquet held to raise awareness of heart conditions

A banquet was held at Croke Park last night to launch the Cormac Trust, a fundraising initiative named after Tyrone captain Cormac McAnallen, who died in March of this year from a rare heart condition.

The 24-year-old teacher from Eglish was found dead at the home where he lived with his parents.

The Cormac Trust is to raise money to help reduce deaths from conditions like his, to promote and encourage screening to identify and treat heart conditions and to provide information on and raise awareness of rare heart conditions.

McAnallen's family attended the event, along with Irish rugby captain Brian O'Driscoll, soccer manager Brian Kerr and McAnallen's team-mate, All-Ireland-winning captain Peter Canavan.

The event will be followed by another banquet tonight at Belfast's Wellington Park Hotel.