As secretary of IOFAS, it was my pleasure to host our annual academic meeting in Belfast. I invited Dr Lew Schon and Anne-Marie Hutchison to speak. Dr Schon is a world expert and he spoke on Neuropathies of the Foot & Ankle, the Foot in Dancers, the Diabetic Foot and Hallux Rigidus. He lived up to his reputation of being an excellent teacher and an absolute gentleman. We also had the pleasure of meeting his Wife Erica and showing them the delights of Belfast. IOFAS are most thankful to them both for making the long trip to Ireland.

We also had 16 companies sponsoring the event, with lots of opportunity to interact with and learn from each other. The companies were Hogan HealthCare, DepUy Synthes, DJ Orthopaedics, Foot Care International, Grunenthal, GS Medical, Innovate Medical, Lynch Medical, New Vision Healthcare, Olympus, O'Mara Medical, Orthosmed, Ossur, Pat Coakley Medical, Premier Medical, Smith & Nephew and Stryker UK ltd.