The deep end of Jurys swimming pool is about as deep as Father Dougal Maguire. But the Irish Cancer Society was taking no chances with its special guest yesterday, when it fitted Ardal O'Hanlon with a life jacket for a waterbound publicity stunt.
The comedian teamed up with 10 synchonised swimmers at an event to announce details of the society's Daffodil Day 2001. The swimmers performed underwater choreography to the tune of Tom Jones's Delilah - no mean feat in itself - while O'Hanlon paddled a canoe (not his own) with a daffodil between his teeth.
But that was as dramatic as it got. With the guest apparently suffering from a sore back, the swimmers - from Dublin's Templeogue club - were under orders to ensure he didn't part company with the canoe, accidentally or otherwise.
This year's Daffodil Day, on March 23rd, aims to raise £1.75 million to fund the ICS's free specialist nursing services for people with cancer.
Addressing 300 society volunteers elsewhere in Jurys Minister of State Ms Mary Hanafin said the annual event had raised £12 million since its inception in 1988, including £1.5 million last year. Among other things, the initiative supported 38 homecare nurses, she said, as well as funding a night-nursing service used by almost 1,000 families in the past 12 months.
ICS chairman Dr Desmond Carney said that in the 14 years of its existence, Daffodil Day had helped raise the standards of cancer care in both hospitals and the community. While more Irish people were developing cancer every year, he added, the numbers dying from the disease were decreasing proportionately.
But he expressed worry that the growing use of the Internet was causing people with cancer to become "even more confused" about their condition.
Dr Carney said Internet stories about new drugs or breakthroughs in treatment led patients to think their doctors were "holding back" or were not up with the latest developments.
