New Cancer Centre for the North

The British Chancellor has announced the building of a new Regional Cancer Centre for Northern Ireland, it was revealed tonight.

Stormont sources confirmed the centre was the number one priority for the power-sharing Executive and that a start could be made later this year.

‘‘The cancer centre will be the first thing that the strategic investment initiative will be spent on.

‘‘It is precisely the type of project we are talking about when it comes to dealing with the infrastructure deficit in Northern Ireland,’’ said the source.

The Stormont administration is expected to give the go-ahead on the new centre later this month.

Health Minister Bairbre de Brun confirmed that she hoped to make an announcement on the £57 million project in the near future but refused to put a date on when construction would start.

‘‘As you know the cancer centre is a top priority for me. I’m very, very concerned that needs to be built.

‘‘I want to see it built without any delay.’’

Mr Brown’s announcement of an extra £200 million over the next two years to spend on immediate priorities has paved the way for the long-awaited cancer hospital.

The new centre will be built on the old Jubilee Maternity site at Belfast City Hospital.

Although the building will be publicly funded, state-of-the-art cancer equipment will be funded by private finance initiatives.

Monica McWilliams, a member of the Stormont Health Committee said the new centre was a ‘‘fait accompli’’.

‘‘We have got the best of both worlds. We have got a deal that is giving us a publicly funded hospital with the equipment being secured under private finance with a commitment that it will be updated on a regular basis.

‘‘We were in danger of losing some of our top oncologists and cancer researchers, whom we had attracted back to the Province with the promise that we were going to give them state-of-the-art facilities.’’