A new multi-million pound research centre, which aims to find treatments and cures for a number of conditions, including sight loss and diabetes, is to be opened in Queen's University Belfast.

The Centre for Experimental Research has received funding of £32 million and will focus on eye diseases, genetic illnesses and diabetes.

The news has been welcomed by Irish charity, Fighting Blindness, which described it as a 'significant opportunity for the development of research into eye disease'.

"Research in this area has never been more important. In the Republic of Ireland, more than 224,000 people are affected by conditions causing severe sight loss, with these figures set to increase to 275,000 by 2020," commented Fighting Blindness CEO, Avril Daly.