Brave Vicky’s life to be celebrated at UCC

University College Cork will this week host a celebration of Vicky Phelan’s life, unveiling a portrait of the CervicalCheck campaigner which will be displayed for three weeks in the college’s Boole Library.

The Triptych Portrait of Vicky Phelan, which is the work of Vincent Devine, will be unveiled at a ceremony which will take place this evening at the Aula Maxima in UCC, and will be followed by a panel discussion on cervical cancer in Ireland.

The portrait was painted by artist Vincent Devine, and he worked with Vicky to create the three-panel artwork, which depicts her past, present and future.

Among the speakers confirmed for the event are Stephen Teap, who lost his wife Irene to cervical cancer, Cian O’Carroll, medical negligence solicitor and Róisín Ní Chadhla, BTYS and student public health researcher.

Vicky Phelan died aged 48 last November. Leading the tributes to her, President Michael D Higgins thanked Vicky for her “enormous contribution to Irish society”.