Meath legend Beggy in the Dail to raise awareness of Haemochromatosis

Meath GAA legend David ‘Jinxy’ Beggy made a trip to the corridors of power last week when he was a guest speaker in Leinster House.

However, Jinxy wasn't in Leinster House to talk to TDs about the state of Meath football.

The double All-Ireland medal winner was raising awareness of a disease called Haemochromatosis (or 'iron overload'), which he has suffered from.

This causes severe fatigue and attacks organs such as the liver. If left undetected and untreated it can lead to early death.

Ireland has the highest rates of Haemochromatosis than anywhere else in the world, where one in five people carry one copy of the gene.

David and the support campaign are calling on the government and the HSE to develop a National Strategy for Haemochromatosis, where everyone has equal access to testing, diagnosis, treatment and quality of care, regardless of where they live in Ireland or their financial circumstances.

They are also calling on the Minister of Health to develop a population screening programme for haemochromatosis in primary and hospital care settings.

Meeting Jinxy in Leinster House was fellow Meath man Senator Shane Cassells who attended the briefing and offered his support to the campaign.