Taoiseach Micheál Martin has paid tribute to Cervical Check campaigner Vicky Phelan and praised the work she did for “women globally” following news of her death.
In a moving tribute, the Fianna Fáil leader said that Ms Phelan’s actions will “live long in the memory of someone who stood up against the system”.
She passed away at Milford Hospice in Limerick in the early hours of Monday morning.
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Ms Phelan exposed the CervicalCheck screening scandal in Ireland, after discovering she was not told she had been given incorrect smear test results.
She settled the case, with no admission of liability on the part of the laboratory or health services.
She refused to sign a non-disclosure agreement and it was discovered that over 220 other women could have benefitted from earlier treatment. Dozens of women have since died as a result of the scandal.
Vicky is survived by her children, Amelia and Darragh, and her ex-husband Jim.
In a moving tribute to Ms Phelan, Mr Martin commended the late mother-of-two for exposing the Cervical Check scandal.
“I think this is very, very sad news,” the Taoiseach told RTÉ’s Today with Claire Byrne.
“I think she was a woman of extraordinary courage and integrity who stood up for the women of Ireland, but women globally.
“To her family, to her husband and her family, in particular, we extend our deepest sympathies.
“I think in the history of this country, I think her actions, particularly in terms of not signing a confidentiality agreement at that particular time and her statement outside the steps of the High Court, will live long in the memory as an example of someone who stood up against the system and the normal conventions of actions to say ‘no, I'm not signing that. I want this revealed in the public interest’.
“She stood up for the public interest.”
Labour TD Alan Kelly, who is a close friend of Ms Phelan, also paid an emotional tribute to the Limerick woman on RTÉ.
He called her the “most resilient person I ever met” and even though he “knew this day would come” it was still shocking.
“I was with her seven or eight days ago. I was inside with her in Limerick and I was with her for an hour,” he said.
“Her maiden name was Kelly and as I was leaving because she was getting some treatment, I had to leave. I just turned to her and said, ‘the Kellys will always be together’.”
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