VICKY Phelan, well-known cervical cancer campaigner, has died at the age of 48.
She died surrounded by her family in the early hours of this morning at Milford Hospice in Limerick.
Phelan exposed the CervicalCheck scandal and campaigned tirelessly on behalf of hundreds of women who were incorrectly told their smear test results were negative.
She settled a High Court action for €2.5 million after being wrongly told in 2011 that her smear test was clear, before being diagnosed three years later.
Phelan and other women were not informed that results showing them to be in the clear were inaccurate and the revised results, found in an internal audit, were kept from them for years.
Her campaigning led to an investigation and subsequent report into the scandal, an official state apology and the formation of the 221+ group - a support group for patients directly affected by failures in the screening programme.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has expressed his condolences to Phelan's family, describing her as a woman of 'extraordinary courage and integrity' on RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne.
Dr Gabriel Scally, who led the investigation into the CervicalCheck scandal, praised Phelan's tenacity and said: 'In years to come, she will be regarded as having a seminal influence on healthcare in Ireland and changing it towards a much more patient, sensitive and respectful system.'
