A public campaign by the Irish Blood Cancer Patients Advocacy Groupbeatbloodcancer.ie
BEAT BLOOD CANCERBring specialist treatment closer to home
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.

10 seconds. No cost. Help bring treatment closer to home.
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Mags McCarthy pictured with family
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.

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.
THE LONG WAIT

Nearly 20 years of waiting.

CUH’s stem cell service was identified for major upgrades following inspections beginning in 2006. Funding and staff were approved for the required infrastructure, but the upgrade was not completed. By June 2008, CUH had informed the regulator that it would no longer accept new patients for stem cell collection.

Nearly 20 years of talking about it. It’s time to deliver.

“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
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.

875 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.

Hear directly from patients, clinicians and campaign supporters, and review the public records and reporting behind the campaign.

RTÉ News report on the campaign for a stem cell laboratory at Cork University Hospital
RTÉ NEWS • 4 OCTOBER 2026
NATIONAL NEWS COVERAGE

Patients appeal for stem cell transplant lab at CUH

RTÉ News reports on the campaign’s call to re-establish stem cell transplant services at Cork University Hospital, with Mags McCarthy and CUH consultant haematologist Dr Vitaliy Mykytiv.

READ THE RTÉ NEWS FEATURE ↗
CORK'S 96FM • OPINION LINE

Voices from the campaign

Patients, families, medical specialists and campaign supporters have spoken with PJ Coogan about why access to specialist stem cell treatment closer to home matters.

Patient voicesDermot, Brian & Mags: why a CUH stem cell unit mattersListen on Cork's 96FM ↗
01
PATIENT & FAMILY VOICESThe human impact of travelling for treatment
PATIENT STORYOne Cork Mum’s Harrowing Journey for Cancer Treatment

Jude, a Ballincollig mother of three, describes the strain of family life, treatment and repeated travel to Galway.

Cork's 96FM • 23 Sep 2026 ↗ PATIENT STORYCarla Adds Her Voice to the Call for a CUH Unit

Carla Brown talks with PJ about having to travel to Galway for treatment.

Cork's 96FM • 8 Sep 2026 ↗
02
MEDICAL & TRANSPLANT PERSPECTIVESClinical expertise and lived transplant experience
MEDICAL VOICESTop Doctors Come to CUH to Back a Stem Cell Unit for Cork

Mags McCarthy joins Dr Bruce Levine and CUH consultant haematologist Dr Vitaliy Mykytiv on the Opinion Line.

Cork's 96FM • 31 Aug 2026 ↗ TRANSPLANT VOICEMairead O'Mahony & Sen. Eileen Lynch Discuss the CUH Campaign

Transplant athlete Mairead O'Mahony shares her experience, with Senator Eileen Lynch joining the discussion.

Cork's 96FM • 15 Sep 2026 ↗
03
CAMPAIGN & PUBLIC DISCUSSIONThe case for the proposed CUH service
CAMPAIGN UPDATEThe €27M Stem Cell Unit Discussion at CUH

A 96FM programme covering the campaign and discussion of the proposed €27 million CUH stem cell unit.

Cork's 96FM • 22 Sep 2026 ↗ DIRECT AUDIOAdditional Cork's 96FM Audio Supplied by the Campaign

Original direct audio link supplied by Mags. Kept here so no campaign-provided media is omitted.

Play audio ↗
OFFICIAL RECORDS

Read the underlying public record.

HSEParliamentary Question on a CUH transplant centre ↗HSE SOUTH WESTRegional Health Forum minutes ↗
Newspaper coverage of the Cork stem cell treatment campaign, including photographs of Mags McCarthy
Newspaper coverage of the campaign and Mags McCarthy’s advocacy.
The Corkman newspaper coverage of the Cork stem cell campaign
The Corkman coverage of the campaign.
The Echo coverage showing participants at the 2026 Women's Mini Marathon in Cork holding a Cork CUH Needs a Stem Cell Lab banner
The Echo • 23 September 2026. Community supporters at the Women’s Mini Marathon in Cork with the campaign banner.
IN THE NEWS

Coverage of the campaign.

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

Irish Examiner — Experts urge minister to open blood cancer care centre in Munster • 5 October 2026 ↗Irish Examiner — ‘It was a lonely time’: Cork patients outline stress of having to travel for cancer treatment • 5 October 2026 ↗Agriland — Campaign profile ↗
WHO WE ARE

Patients, advocates and specialists standing together.

The campaign brings together people affected by blood cancer, patient and carer advocates, and specialists who want patients in Cork and the South to have better access to stem cell transplant care.

Mags McCarthy with Dr Bruce Levine and Dr Vitaliy Mykytiv
THE CAMPAIGN’S LEADERSHIP

Shared experience. Specialist knowledge.

Mags McCarthyWorld Patient Advocate for the International Clinical Haematology.
Dr Bruce LevineCo-inventor of CAR T-cell therapy.
Dr Vitaliy MykytivDirector of Diagnostics and Therapeutics, consultant haematologist and lead for stem cell transplant at Cork University Hospital.
Michael Rynne

Michael Rynne

CLL Ireland; based in Dublin.

Maurice O’Donoghue

Maurice O’Donoghue

Patient advocate, inspired by the experience of a close family member. Former Army Officer and Barrister at Law.

Mairead O’Mahony

Mairead O’Mahony

Diagnosed with ALL at 17 in October 1996; bone marrow transplant in July 1997. She has competed in track and field and 5K road races at World and European Transplant Games in Perth, Lisbon, Dresden and Arnhem.

Dermot O’Leary

Dermot O’Leary

Patient and facilitator, Multiple Myeloma Ireland South Support Group.

Brian O’Connor

Brian O’Connor

Multiple myeloma patient.

Sean Brick

Sean Brick

From Kerry; living with multiple myeloma.

Ann Marie O’Mahoney

Ann Marie O’Mahoney

Multiple myeloma patient.

Ian Doherty

Ian Doherty

From Donegal; voluntary patient advocate for the Lymphoma Coalition and a member of its Community Advisory Board. He represented the patient voice to the European Hematology Association on 2026 Hodgkin lymphoma and large B-cell diagnostic guidelines, published in June 2026.

Niamh O’Donovan

Niamh O’Donovan

Patient and carer advocate.

Sean Tobin

Sean Tobin

Waterford patient advocate.

Noel Casey

Noel Casey

Patient advocate.

SUPPORTER RECORD

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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