Vicky Phelan has confirmed that she will be unable to make the journey to Croagh Patrick in Co Mayo in April to take part in the 'Climb with Charlie’, as she is not well enough.

The event is being organised by former RTÉ broadcaster Charlie Bird to raise money from the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association and for Pieta House.

Mr Bird was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease last year.

In an interview on the Late Late Show in December, he said he had told his friends he had "one wish, to climb Croagh Patrick again - to prove I can still do it."

Ms Phelan had tweeted her support at the time and said she would take part in the climb.

However in a post on Facebook she said had to make the hard decision not to make the journey for the climb as she is simply not well enough physically or mentally.

She said has spent the past two weeks at Milford Care Centre in Limerick recovering from complications from her radiotherapy treatment, which had left her very unwell and unable to walk without assistance.

It is only in the last few days that she has been able to walk without the help of a four-wheeler or a zimmer frame.

She said walking long distances are beyond her, but she is hopeful she will get there again and that she will be moving around a bit more freely in a couple of weeks time, but she is acutely aware that she may not.

In relation to her decision not to journey to Croagh Patrick, she said the past few weeks had knocked the stuffing out of her and she needs to focus on getting well again.

The cervical cancer campaigner said she has informed Mr Bird and he has supported her decision.

She said she needs now to focus on spending time with her family and friends as unfortunately her condition has become unpredictable and is impacting more and more on her everyday life.

She thanked everyone for their support and said she would be pulling back also from posting social media updates.