THE MOTHER OF Cork twins Hassan and Hussein Benhaffaf is the new patron of Twinfest Ireland.

The festival, which gathers together twins and multiple-birth siblings once a year in aid of various charities, is being held in Keash, Co Sligo on Sunday, 18 August this year. It was originally established in memory of Katie Garvey, who died at five months old of meningitis. Katie’s parents Martha and George wanted to raise awareness of the deadly disease and so Katie’s uncle Patrick, himself a twin, had the idea of a Twinfest celebration to highlight their cause and to raise funds.

This year, funds from Twinfest go to ACT for Meningitis. Angie Benhaffaf, mother to Hassan and Hussein – who were born conjoined but separated in a complex operation in 2010 – has said she is proud to be the new patron of Twinfest. She said that she and her family were returning to the festival – and urged “all twins and multiples, young and old to make a journey you will never forget”.

In the spirit of celebrating the multiple sibling bond, here are some of our favourite twin pics: