Sligo cancer campaigners to protest in Dublin

Thousands of protestors are set to travel to Dublin today as part of the campaign to secure the retention of cancer services at Sligo General Hospital.

Campaigners from the Save our Cancer Services group will travel to Áras an Uachtarain to hand in a letter to President Mary McAleese.

They will then go to the Department of Health to hand in a letter to Minister Mary Harney before heading to Taoiseach Brian Cowen's office, where they are being urged to tie their bras to the railings.

The campaigners say the closure of cancer services in Sligo as part of the Government's plan to establish new centres of excellence is a poorly thought-out move.

They say the service in Sligo is doing very well while there are major problems in many of the hospitals earmarked as centres of excellence.