The launch of findings from the report of ‘The Health Research Landscape in Ireland – What Researchers Say’ incorporated the following:

09.30 – 10.00am : Registration Teas/Coffees

10.00 – 10.20am : Welcome and Opening Remarks (Philip Watt, MRCG Chairman and CEO Cystic Fibrosis Ireland)

10.20 – 11.00am: The Launch of the Medical Research Charities Group’s Report “The Health Research Landscape in Ireland: What Researchers Say” (Professor Bernie Hannigan, University of Ulster )

11.00 – 11.15am :Irish Health Research Forum : A Single Voice for Research to Improve Health (Grace Cappock, Communications and Public Affairs Manager MRCG)

11.15 – 11.30am :Update from the HRB (Dr Graham Love, CEO HRB)

The Research Study Report shows that despite Ireland having sustained its strong support for health research throughout the economic crisis a number of issues still remain which have been identified in the report:

• There are gaps in enabling infrastructure for health research, and financial sustainability is a concern.
• Particular important areas of research are not prioritised.
• Support is focused on the earliest stages of research training and on well-established researchers.
• There is limited engagement with potential users of research findings.
• The systematic involvement in research of patients or other lay people is not well developed.
• The contribution of medical research charities is not recognised in policy documents.

A key recommendation in the report is the establishment of the Irish Health Research Forum: A Single Voice for Research to Improve Health. The Irish Health Research Forum (IHRF) will be a partnership of organisations that influence health research in Ireland and will allow these bodies to work together to enable high quality research, to support research careers and to promote the involvement of service users.

l-r Bernie Hannigan and Philip Watt

l-r Enda Connolly, Bernie Hannigan, Philip Watt