Call to lower age for bowel cancer screening
Bowel Cancer Ireland is advocating for lower screening ages following the death of Olympian Ciara Mageean at age 34. The organization is urging the public to recognize early warning signs and seek medical advice regardless of age.
Why it matters
Early detection of bowel cancer significantly improves survival rates, highlighting a potential gap in current national screening policies.
Bowel Cancer Ireland has renewed its calls for better prevention and screenings following the death of Irish Olympian and European champion runner Ciara Mageean.
The 34-year old, who died yesterday, was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer in July 2025.
Bowel Cancer Ireland collaborated with Ms Mageean following her diagnosis and is urging people to watch out for red flag symptoms.
Around one in ten bowel cancer diagnoses in Ireland are found in people under 50. However, the national BowelScreen programme is only for those aged 57-71.
Chair of Bowel Cancer Ireland Brendan Donlon called on people not to dismiss symptoms as he told RTÉ's Morning Ireland what symptoms to look out for.
"We need to talk about this," he said. "You can't die of embarrassment.
"If you've blood in your poo, and the blood could be red, or if it's part-digested, it could be black.
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