Campaigner Vicky Phelan has been honoured by Limerick City and County Council at a civic reception for her courage, leadership and determination to bring the CervicalCheck controversy to public prominence.
She was given the honour at a public ceremony in Limerick tonight, attended by her family, her husband Jim and children Amelia and Darragh, as well as many of her friends and neighbours and her children's friends, their sports club mentors and many she had met on her cancer journey.
Mayor of Limerick Cllr James Collins praised her for her service, sacrifice and civic duty, and said she had been an inspiration to all for the work she had done on behalf of the women of Ireland.
He said she also refused to be silent or to remain anonymous. She fought the health system and the Government to expose glaring weaknesses in our system and to advocate for better standards, he said, and in doing so, saved many of the women on our island. And she did all of this while very ill and facing her own mortality.
Vicky Phelan said it was a very special day for her, adding that she was "honoured".
She said she had to use her voice to advocate on behalf of the other women who she discovered had also been victims of non-disclosure of smear test results.
And because of her own research on accessing clinical trial drugs, she wants to continue to advocate for a dedicated research officer to be available in hospitals to help women given a terminal diagnosis.
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She asked the mayor and other elected representatives to support her call for legislation to demand accountability throughout the public service, or nothing would change, she warned.
She gave a cautious welcome to the compensation tribunal put forward by Mr Justice Meehan as a mechanism to help women caught up in the CervicalCheck controversy, as it may suit some women who do not have a negligence case to pursue.
But she does not see it as a huge advantage for women who want to pursue negligence in their cases.
Ms Phelan also said some women will welcome the anonymity of a tribunal, but she said there is also the danger that the State could behave quite badly behind closed doors, whereas that may not happen in the High Court, she said.
