Vicky Phelan painting unveiled at UCC
Vicky Phelan's husband Jim Phelan, with her parents Gaby and John Kelly at the hosting of the Vicky Phelan Triptych Portrait and panel discussion at the Aula Maxima, UCC were - Picture; David Creedon
University College Cork (UCC) unveiled a portrait of the late Vicky Phelan ahead of a panel discussion on cervical cancer on Thursday evening.
The event was held as part of UCC's programme to increase awareness about cervical cancer and cervical cancer screening available.
The triptych portrait, painted by artist Vincent Devine, will go on view in UCC's Library for three weeks as part of a national campaign to honour Vicky Phelan’s legacy and to educate people about cervical cancer.
While revealing the portrait, Vincent Devine shared his insights into the collaboration with Vicky which led to the creation of the triptych portrait.
The portrait tells the story of Vicky Phelan's life in three panels. When it was first unveiled, Vicky said the painting "meant the world" and is something that will "live on forever."
The portrait was purchased at a charity auction by Vicky's lifelong friend and fellow Kilkenny native David Brennan.
Both Vincent Devine and David Brennan discussed each panel of the portrait in detail as each was revealed during the event at the Aula Maxima.
In the middle panel of the portrait, Vicky is portrayed in an anatomical way, with each part of her body representative of an important part of her life journey.
Marking European Cervical Cancer Prevention Week, a panel discussion on cervical cancer awareness, campaigning, and women's health advocacy was hosted by the Irish Examiner’s Niamh Griffin.
The panel featured Cian O'Carroll, solicitor and Vicky’s legal representative, Stephen Teap, healthcare campaigner whose wife Irene Teap died of cervical cancer in 2017, and Roisin Ni Cadhla, secondary school student at Ardscoil a Mara who conducted a survey of public attitudes to CervicalCheck and the HPV vaccine as part of her BT Young Scientist project.
Cian O'Carroll said he has been involved in many cancer misdiagnosis cases, which he specialises in, but that “people had an instant reaction to Vicky as a communicator”.
He said that women have a sense that there is a problem in women’s health and that there are “recurring signs” of that still.
Roisin Ni Cadhla said both Vicky and Laura Brennan inspired her project which found that over half of the general population of Ireland did not have a good understanding of the causes of cervical cancer.
Róisín said she is proud to have played a small part in the fact that Ireland now has one of the best uptakes of the HPV vaccine in the world.
