Thursday, April 27, 2006

Ex-Boyzone member and Corrie star Keith Duffy gathered together some of his celebrity chums on Monday for his annual Celebrity Pro Golf Classic and Gala Dinner, which took place at the Citywest Hotel and Country Club. The day commenced with a host of names, including infamous cad James Hewitt, Steve Staunton and actor Johnny Briggs taking to the course. (I expect that Johnny will be playing a lot of golf in the future, since his character Mike Baldwin was killed off Corrie.)


The gala dinner, now in its fourth year, is a firm favourite among charity glitz set, making it a key date in the social diary. The evening kicked off with a lavish champagne reception where guests were indulged by the irresistible temptations of an exclusive Magnum chocolate fondue fountain and the brand new HB Magnum Mint ice creams. With magnums all round, the girls were well impressed.


The stunning and ever glamorous hostess Lisa Duffy set the tone of the evening, in a fab knee length white dress which flowed effortlessly. Lisa Fitzpatrick was a vision, as she graced the red carpet in stunning Grecian style multicoloured ball gown. Beautiful TV presenter and musician Myleene Klass encapsulated natural elegance in a stunning powder blue sleeveless floor length ball gown. She was more than happy to showcase her stunning diamond engagement ring to friends and later joked that she had left her Irish fiancé, Graham Quinn, at home to plan the wedding.


Others out in force to support this worthy cause were Coronation Street stars Susie Baker (Bev Unwin) and Sally Lindsay (Shelley), gravel voiced former Eastenders star and Celebrity Love Island contestant Michael Greco, celebrity magician Keith Barry, Sinead Ryan and Joanne Byrne and UTV’s Gerry Kelly.


Among the deserving charities to benefit from the golf event and gala evening were Irish Autism Action and autism charities SPEAC and ABACAS. Pauline McLynn and Deirdre O’Kane saved the night as they stepped in to MC the event after comedian Des Bishop fell ill.


Maybe his recent public gaffs are a symptom of Foot In Mouth disease?