45 Kilmessan men donate their faces to 'Movember’ movement

It’s only in its third official year in Ireland, but already the 'Movember’ movement has taken hold, and some 45 men in Kilmessan have taken on the challenge, which originated in Australia. Movember is an annual, month-long charity event where men grow a moustache throughout the month of November to raise funds for Action Prostate Cancer, an initiative of the Irish Cancer Society. In 2003, 30 'Mo Bros’ took part in Movember in Australia. In 2009, citizenship of Movember had grown to over 253,000 in the UK, Ireland, USA, Canada, New Zealand, Spain and Australia, raising over €32.9 million for Movember’s global beneficiary partners. To date, Movember has raised over €73 million worldwide. Kilmessan hairdresser Anna Gilmartin, who works in Tara Hair and Beauty in Navan, first suggested to her boyfriend and his brother and some of their friends that they grew moustaches for the charity. From an initial number of around 10 lads, the interest grew, and by 1st November, 45 local men had signed up. Mo Bros had to be clean-shaven on 1st 'Movember’ and left free to groom and cultivate their upper lip shrubbery during the month to create awareness of men’s health issues. Last year, Movember’s second in Ireland, nearly 7,000 Irish Mo Bros donated their faces to the cause, with the support of the Mo Sistas, and raised over €1 million in just one month. Trying to scrum up well this season with their mos are Irish rugby international team mates Jamie Heaslip and Cian Healy. Joining them is Ireland’s favourite new band, The Cast of Cheers, and Irish middleweight champion Gary 'Spike’ O’Sullivan. Also supporting this year’s campaign are MTV’s Laura Whitmore, and rock chic Dirty Epics’ SJ Wai O’Flynn. John McCormack, CEO of the Irish Cancer Society, said: “The Irish Cancer Society greatly appreciates the ongoing support of Movember campaign in Ireland. It is wonderful to see such a large, enthusiastic and ever-increasing following. Movember partnership allows us drive awareness around prostate and other cancers to even more men across the country.” Prostate Cancer is the most common male cancer among Irish men. In Ireland, men have a one in nine chance of developing prostate cancer during the course of their lifetime. The most recent data shows that there were 2,579 new cases of prostate cancer diagnosed in Ireland in 2008. The Kilmessan effort comes to a climax in Thornes’ Bar on 27th November, when Anna will perform a major shave-athon. She already persuaded publican John Thornes to have his long-standing moustache shaved to launch the fundraising on 1st November. There will be prizes for the best, worst and funniest moustaches at the 'Best Mo’ party at the end of the month.