It’s a very long journey in very difficult circumstances. It’s a pity that treatment is not available closer to where the chemotherapy patients live.

Absolutely disgusting that these people who are already suffering enough should have to travel 200km’s for potentially life saving treatment, keep up the spirits all and fight the good fight hopefully this documentary highlights ye’re plight….

Lynn and Eamonn McDevitt do outstanding work.

Jesus that’s horrible.

Absolute discrase at a time in their lives when they need care and treatment and to be treated like humans their hurded like cattle 200kl I don’t believe that this could be aloud to go on the government is a discrase and if they change the next lot will be as bad were government but greed corruption and bias the documentary will come and and go people will give out for a few days then they will be forgotten just like tume and corruption in the Gardai fraud and imbeselment in the banks etc etc etc it’s time for change a major change

The great democratic revolution promised by kenny and co has not materialised ,what we have is more of the same ,the state is determined to turn citizens into consumers and if you dont have the financial resources tuff luck ,for a so called modern western democracy to be treating its citizens like this is nothing but a thundering disgrace .The sad truth is that these people have been conditioned by the state to accept these deplorable services ,whaile the same government go to court to prevent multi national s,from paying their fair share of tax .

Article from Irish Exaniner2015

Pensioner faces 200km Donegal to Galway trip for cancer treatment

An 89-year-old cancer patient has been forced to find her own way to travel over 200km for treatment.
The elderly woman, from North Donegal, contacted a local charity which operates a volunteer bus service transporting cancer patients the four-hour journey to Galway or Dublin. Donegal has no specialist cancer care services, meaning patients have no option but to travel colossal distances for radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
The woman, who does not want her name published, sought help from Eamonn McDevitt, who runs the cancer bus service entirely on donations.
He said: “We have a saying in our charity that, if you’re diagnosed with cancer in Donegal, you’ve two options: you can travel, or, you can die.
“The lady contacted us to say she has to go to Galway for treatment. Believe it or not, the husband is still driving, and while he’s not able to drive to Galway, he said he would be able to drive to Letterkenny [30km] to meet up with the bus. They don’t have a family, it’s just themselves.”
Mr McDevitt criticised the Irish Cancer Society, which he said, had never provided funding for the charity bus service because he said, “they don’t [fund] buses”.
“We’re very disappointed with the Irish Cancer Society. They come to Donegal every year and they do what’s called a ‘Relay for Life’. It’s a fundraiser and they announced before Christmas that they picked up €820,000 here in Donegal alone. We’ve have talked to them in the hope they might give us something, and each time they have come straight out and tell us they ‘don’t do buses’,” Mr Devitt added.
In a statement, the Irish Cancer Society said: “In 2015, we will fund a number of… local cancer groups with over €500,000 of direct financial support for their services. What these groups have in common is that they are affiliated to the Irish Cancer Society’s network of cancer groups and have signed up to a shared code of practice for good governance. This gives us confidence that we can stand over any funds we redistribute to support our vision of a future without cancer.”
It added: “We invited [Mr McDevitt’s charity] to become part of this network and they have chosen not to engage. They are aware that this is the first step to take when seeking funds from the society. It remains open to [them] to join the affiliated network of cancer support groups and seek funding through this mechanism.”
The society said it would “not compromise” on its policy of providing funds to affiliated local cancer services.

We live in some country !!

It’s worse this country is getting under this gov, not better. And they’ll make sure to look after themselves despite their awful performance and withdrawal of support of public services. They need to realise it’s not all about the economic figures.

When the new cancer centre at Altnagelvin in Derry is fully up and running, it will handle patients from Donegal so this terrible situation should be remedied in the near future

I remember well when we had one of the most powerful woman in government when these centres of excellence were formed and the line was drawn from Dublin to Galway all centres were south of that line. Her response was that there were great roads and it’s only a couple of hours down the road and stop bitching after all I’ve done for you, the people of Donegal did not forget it or forgive her for doing this (let’s call her “Mary”) Mary lost her seat a few years later and will never get it back. Not to stand up for your county and let that happen was despicable and it’s a sad reality for people up here is if you get cancer and its rampant this is one of your options to go on the bus journey again thanks “Mary”. #cancerbus

Any clue about when it’s on?

I agree it is so hard for I’ll people from Donegal having to travel so far to access services.
The lack of funding for Ait Aobhinn or the Lodge as they referred to in the documentary was not mentioned at all. The centre has to fundraiser continuously to keep that residential service going and to provide free of charge accommodation and meals to so many people PLUS their family members. This lack of funding from the Government also needs to be highlighted as it supports people all along the western seaboard that have to attend radiotherapy services.
Well done to all on the documentary and hopefully it will bring about s change in funding for the bus and the centre.
Well done to all the staff in Ait Aobhinn for your care and dedication to all the residents

Its long but Donegal’s local next to NI is the core problem.

This is one of the most disgusting things I have ever read about. I am choked up reading it. Having been through the horrors of chemo & radiation the last thing these poor people need is a 5 hour bus journey. They should be resting and there is no way that they are able to sleep comfortably in the house. My heart goes out to all of these people and their families.

They give chemotherapy in Donegal. Radiotherapy will soon be available in Derry. The piece above could have mentioned that.