The death has taken place of former independent and Fianna Fáil MEP Brian Crowley.
He was aged 61 and had been unwell for some time.
Mr Crowley died early this morning at Cork University Hospital, where he had been receiving treatment.
He was elected to the European Parliament five times and was one of the biggest vote getters in the country.
He topped the poll in each of the European elections he contested in 1994, 1999, 2004, 2009 and 2014.
He failed to secure Micheál Martin's support for the Fianna Fáil nomination to run for the presidency in 2011.
He retired from active politics in 2019.
A wheelchair user, he was paralysed from the waist down following an accident when he fell off a building at the age of 16.
His life was plagued by ongoing surgeries arising from complications from that accident, and he spent several years being treated in hospital.
He is survived by his mother, Sally, and by his brother and sisters.
