Welcome to this week’s issue of The Week in Medicine – a round-up of all the happenings in the world of Irish medicine
Despite the enormous cuts to cancer research in the US, cancer research still goes on in this part of the world and next week, Breakthrough Cancer Research hosts an exhibition in the St Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre (in the old Argos unit) to celebrate that fact.
The exhibition, Cancer Revolution: Science, Innovation and Hope, will bring together lived experience, Irish-led research breakthroughs, and powerful public storytelling around cancer.
Dr Leslie O’Looney, as envisaged by AI
There was a time when a cancer diagnosis was much more likely to be a death sentence and even the word ‘cancer’ was taboo, but scientific research over the last 20 years has changed that paradigm.
The exhibition brings together ground-breaking science, cutting-edge innovation and inspiring stories of human resilience, celebrating the amazing progress in cancer research (before much of it comes to a halt!)
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The dog days of summer are with us and nothing much is happening – unless you count the manic intensity and unsatiable desire for media attention that is the current White House – which delivers outrageous news fodder for the masses on a daily basis.
The latest insanity is an announcement that American states or cities who boycott Israel will not receive assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) – which is almost certainly an illegal thing to do, but then so is kidnapping people on the street and sending them to concentration camps in El Salvador.
Meanwhile, former CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta has ‘interviewed’ Joaquin Oliver, one of the victims of the Parkland school shooting in 2018. His parents have created an AI version of their son to deliver a message on gun violence which you can see here.
What is the point? One can imagine the horrendous grief of the parents and their understandable fight to stop gun violence, but is creating a 25-year-old version of their dead son the best way to do this and to handle grief?
If religions were created to allow people to believe that their loved ones hadn’t in fact actually died, and that some day they would be re-united with them (an unbelievable as that sounds) what happens when people start creating live bots who replicate their dead relatives?
Also, I look forward to interviews with Napoleon, Alexander the Great, Winston Churchill and many more who have passed away, but haven’t passed their sell-by date. “Tell me, comrade Stalin, were you surprised when Hitler broke his pact with you and invaded the Soviet Union?”
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A priest, a vicar and a rabbit attend a clinic to donate blood. The nurse in charge asks the rabbit: “Do you know your blood type?”
The rabbit says: “I’m probably a Type O”
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The Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, Norma Foley, encouraged survivors yesterday to apply for representation opportunities in three key structures. Applications are invited from survivors and affected persons who are interested in the four positions available on the National Centre for Remembrance steering group to be part of the decision-making process.
Minister Norma Foley
This is a direct response to the feedback received from a series of in-person engagement events with survivors that were held in Dublin, Galway, Cork and London between October 2024 and February 2025, as well as an online event.
There are opportunities for survivors to join the National Museum of Ireland’s Lived Experience expert panels for the National Centre for Remembrance so that the vision to honour all survivors equally and authentically in the National Centre is achieved.
There are also up to 35 positions available for survivors on the Special Advocate for Survivors Advisory Council.
Expressions of interest in these positions are invited from Survivors and Affected Persons of:
- Industrial School Institutions and Reformatory Institutions
- Magdalen Laundries
- Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions
- Boarded out arrangements
- Historic adoption practices and illegal birth registration
- Any of the above who live overseas
Minister Foley is encouraging survivors to consider these opportunities.
“It is essential that the voice and views of survivors and affected persons are at the heart of the development of the National Centre. I am keen to ensure that there is the best possible representation on the steering group for the National Centre for Remembrance. I was pleased to secure agreement at Cabinet earlier this summer for survivor representatives to have their places on the group and would encourage people to apply for these positions and for the creative panels being established by the National Museum of Ireland.’’
“Since her appointment, the Special Advocate has engaged with over 1,200 people both here in Ireland and abroad. She is now moving to establish an Advisory Council of Survivors to support her in her ongoing work. I would like to thank survivors and former residents for their continued engagement with the Special Advocate, and encourage them to consider applying for the Advisory Council. It is only through ongoing engagement that we can ensure the voices of survivors continue to be a central input in government deliberations which affect them.”
Anyone who is interested in these opportunities should complete the Expression of Interest Form here. People can express an interest in more than one position, if they wish to do so.
Applications are open from today (August 6) and remain open until September 19, 2025.
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The World Medical Football Championships took place in Dublin last month in UCD from July 5-12 and for the first time, Ireland fielded a women’s team. Congratulations to all involved – especially the Irish men’s team who came close to matching their victory in 2023. Unfortunately, they lost on penalties to the British team in the final.
However, there were some great individual performances for the Irish – the top goal scorer in the competition was Dr David Gildea, and the goalkeeper of the tournament was Dr Padraic McCarthy. Dr McCarthy said later that ‘the Irish contingent left the championship with heads held high’. He described it as an ‘unforgettable week in UCD’. The next competition takes place in Costa Rica.
