Cancer Society hopes to raise €3m on Daffodil Day

The Irish Cancer Society has said it is hoping to collect around €3m as part of its annual Daffodil Day fundraiser, which is taking place today.

The society said the money raised would be used to develop nursing services across the country.

It said more than 21,000 new cases of cancer would be diagnosed in Ireland this year while 8,000 people would die from the disease.

John McCormack, the head of the society, said: "There's a diagnosis of cancer in Ireland every half hour and it is increasing at a rate of 1.5% per annum.

"The reason for the increase in cancer is the fact that people are living longer, but the good news is that the mortality from cancer is not increasing at the same rate."