The AIDS virus, SARS, avian influenza and other killer diseases will all come under study in a new Centre for Research in Infectious Diseases at University College Dublin (UCD).
The Department of Health and Children provided substantial support for the centre, which would become a key resource should the State become the target of a bioterrorism attack.
The President, Mrs McAleese, officially opened the centre yesterday afternoon. The centre's sole patron, Mrs McAleese described it as a "unique resource" that would put the Republic "right at the forefront of research" into infectious diseases.
The €8.5 million centre features the highest-level biohazard containment system available anywhere in Ireland and should enable world-class research into these dangerous organisms.
Areas where dangerous viruses and bacteria are handled can only be reached by passing through four containment doors. Special air-pressurisation and ventilation systems occupy two full floors above the containment area, said the centre's founder and director, Prof William Hall.
"We have all the equipment we need to cover all aspects of infectious diseases," stated Prof Hall, who is also professor of medical microbiology at UCD and a consultant microbiologist at St Vincent's hospital, Dublin.
The centre's team will be able to conduct research into some of the most-feared organisms on the planet, including the Ebola virus and leukaemia-causing viruses, he added. It was important as a diagnostic centre for the identification of infectious agents.
It would not serve as a long-term repository for these organisms, he said.
"The biological materials will be brought into the facility, studied and then inactivated."
The development builds on existing expertise already available in the National Virus Reference Laboratory at UCD, which is physically connected to the new centre.
The centre had three goals: to support research into infectious diseases; to provide training for doctors and scientists here; and to offer training and collaborative research with clinicians and specialists from developing countries, Prof Hall said yesterday.
The President welcomed the centre's involvement in training those from developing countries. It represented science "at its most noble working for society at its most vulnerable", she stated.
