A public campaign by the Irish Blood Cancer Patients Advocacy Groupbeatbloodcancer.ie
BEAT BLOOD CANCERBring specialist treatment closer to home
The issueWhy Mags startedWatch & readAdd my name
Stem Cell Transplant & Cellular Therapy • Cork

Closer to home.
Closer to family.

People in Cork and across the South who need certain specialist stem cell treatments may have to travel to Dublin or Galway. This campaign is asking for a Stem Cell Transplant & Cellular Therapy Centre at Cork University Hospital.

Add my name before 7 OctoberWatch the full documentary
People involved in the Cork stem cell campaign
Leinster House • 7 October 2026 • 11:00amThe campaign is scheduled to present its case to TDs and Senators. The counter shows time remaining until the presentation.
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IN PLAIN ENGLISH

What is happening — and why does it matter?

Stem cell transplants are an important treatment for some people with blood cancers, including leukemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma. But patients from Cork and the South who need these specialist procedures can have to travel away from home for them.

01

What does a stem cell transplant do?

High-dose cancer treatment can destroy healthy blood-forming cells along with the cancer. A stem cell transplant helps rebuild that system, restoring the body's ability to produce red blood cells, infection-fighting white blood cells and platelets.

02

Why does Cork need this?

Stem cell transplant services used by CUH patients are currently provided outside Cork. That can mean travelling to Dublin or Galway during an already demanding treatment journey.

03

What is the campaign asking for?

A Stem Cell Transplant & Cellular Therapy Centre at Cork University Hospital, bringing more of this specialist care closer to patients and families in the South.

On 7 October, the campaign is scheduled to take its case to Leinster House.Add your name to the public support record before the presentation.ADD MY NAME
Community supporters holding a Cork University Hospital stem cell campaign banner
A COMMUNITY STANDING TOGETHER

This is bigger than one person.

Patients, families, advocates and supporters are adding their voices to the call for specialist stem cell transplant and cellular therapy services at Cork University Hospital.

ADD YOUR VOICE
WHY THIS CAMPAIGN EXISTS

Treatment can be hard enough without having to leave the South for it.

Patients in Cork and across Munster have described travelling to Dublin or Galway for specialist stem cell treatment, adding distance, time away from family and practical strain to an already demanding treatment journey.

In 2026, the proposed development at CUH has been raised through parliamentary questions and HSE South West discussions. HSE regional minutes record discussion of a proposed €27 million Stem Cell Tissue Establishment and Aseptic Compounding Unit at CUH.

Cork University Hospital
The gapCUH patients requiring specialist stem cell transplant procedures may need to travel to Dublin or Galway.
The requestProgress the facilities and capacity needed for Stem Cell Transplant & Cellular Therapy at Cork University Hospital.
The momentThe campaign is scheduled to present its case at Leinster House on 7 October 2026.
“Fighting cancer is exhausting enough without the added burden of traveling for treatment.”
— Dr Vitaliy Mykytiv, Consultant Haematologist at Cork University Hospital, in a public campaign statement
Mags McCarthy with campaign supporters
WHY MAGS STARTED

One family's experience became a wider patient-access campaign.

Mags McCarthy's father underwent a stem cell transplant at St James's Hospital in Dublin. Public reporting describes six weeks as an inpatient followed by a further period close to the hospital for monitoring — an experience that led Mags to ask why patients in the South could not access this care closer to home.

She has since worked with patients, Cork clinicians, patient advocates and international specialists to bring the issue into public discussion.

ADD YOUR VOICE
We need
YOUR voice.

Add your name to show your support for a Stem Cell Transplant & Cellular Therapy Centre at Cork University Hospital ahead of the 7 October presentation.

It takes about 10 seconds. No account registration or password needed.

1 names added

No account registration or password needed. Your email is never displayed publicly. One submission is counted per email address.

WATCH • LISTEN • READ

Hear the Voices. See the Facts.

Watch the documentary, hear patients and specialists in their own words, and review published reporting and official HSE records.

Full Cork TV Ireland programme supplied to the campaign. Published here subject to Mags McCarthy's final approval.

Listen & read

Cork's 96FM — Medical specialists discuss a Cork unit ↗Cork's 96FM — Patients discuss the need for a Cork unit ↗HSE — Parliamentary Question on a CUH transplant centre ↗HSE South West — Regional Health Forum minutes ↗
Newspaper article about the CUH stem cell campaign
IN THE NEWS

The campaign is building a public record.

Patients, families, clinicians and advocates have been speaking publicly about access to stem cell transplant services and the proposal for CUH.

EchoLive — Cork advocate to speak at Leinster House ↗Agriland — Campaign profile ↗
ADD YOUR VOICE

Your name helps show the level of public support.

The supporter record is intended to show public support for a Stem Cell Transplant & Cellular Therapy Centre at Cork University Hospital.

It takes about 10 seconds. No account registration or password is needed. Your email is never displayed publicly.

The optional campaign-updates box is separate. If you do not select it, your email is not recorded as an opt-in for campaign updates.

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