Former taoiseach Mr Albert Reynolds and former Sinn Féin education minister Mr Martin McGuinness are today touring schools to encourage fundraising for trans-Atlantic cancer treatment for children.
Both men are due to visit schools in West Belfast andToome to highlight a bid to raise €1 million for the Children for Children Foundation on both sides of the border.
The foundation is hoping to fund a telemedicine link between Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Dublin and St Jude's Children's Research Hospitalin Memphis, Tennessee, in the United States.
Mr McGuinness said: "Telemedicine is technology that will allow for joint conferences between medical teams in both hospitals allowing experts to view detailed patient information including X-rays and laboratory tests simultaneously.
"This equipment will also benefit children with other diseases as the same equipment can be used to provide links to other centres of excellence throughoutthe world.
The Children for Children project is a co-operative venture between the health and education departments on both sides of the border.
A different school is chosen each year to launch a project funded by the charity, with a school in Northern Ireland chosen every third year.
Former Fianna Fáil leader Mr Reynolds is the chairman of Children for Children. He will join Mr McGuinness and pupils at Anahorish Primary School to formally launch this year's campaign.
PA