A research programme has been launched under the Ireland-Northern Ireland Institute cancer consortium which will allow hospitals throughout Ireland to participate in high quality clinical trials of new therapies for cancer, helping to ensure new and effective treatments are made available more quickly. The esteemed National Cancer Institute in the United States provides access to cutting edge research, prestigious clinical expertise and ground-breaking technologies. Our cancer services and cancer patients are the principal beneficiaries. Significant resources have been invested in the programme in order to establish an effective infrastructure for clinical cancer trials. To date, awards to the value of €3.5 million have been made available through the Health Research Board to allow hospitals to recruit and train staff, improve facilities and take part in world class clinical trials.