Well-known figures in showbusiness and sport yesterday joined forces with Irish doctors to help thousands of people suffering from a crippling strain of arthritis.
Coronation Street's Johnny Briggs, who plays Mike Baldwin, Casualty star Will Mellor and Michael Greco, aka Eastenders' Beppe di Marco, teed off with the doctors to raise funds for people suffering from rheumatoid arthritis.
Actor Chris Bisson who starred in East is East and snooker star Ken Doherty also took to the fairways at Druids Glen golf course in Co Wicklow while leading golfers Nick Faldo and Padraig Harrington rowed in to support the event.
The celebrity golf classic was organised by doctors trying to secure funding for the estimated 35,000 Irish people with the condition that affects the immune system. It attacks joints, causing disability and even death.
Rheumatoid arthritis is three times more common in women than men.
As it is difficult for GPs to distinguish it from other forms of arthritis, they refer patients to consultants for an expert opinion. But because there are so few of these specialists in Ireland, patients spend months and years awaiting a diagnosis.
Prof Oliver Fitzgerald, president of the Irish Society of Rheumatology, said sufferers' joints could be permanently damaged due to delays in the health service.
"This is a very painful condition which results in pain, swelling and stiffness in the patient's joints.
"In time this can lead to hands, feet and wrists becoming deformed and even destroyed.
"We want to set up a database of Irish patients with specific problems such as the new onset of rheumatoid arthritis.
"Once those at-risk patients were identified, a nurse would input information allowing us to prioritise their treatment.
"The software is available to us but we need funding to pay for a rheumatology nurse to collect and manage the data."