Update: Funeral arrangements for Emma Mhic Mhathúna announced
A funeral mass for Emma Mhic Mhathuna will take place at Carraig Church in Ballydavid, west Kerry, at 11am tomorrow.
Her removal will take place at St Mary's Pro Cathedral in Dublin tomorrow afternoon.
A second funeral mass will follow in Dublin on Wednesday at 12.45pm before she is buried next her mother Annette at Laraghbryan Cemetery in Maynooth, Co in Kildare.
She died yesterday after her public cervical cancer battle.
Earlier: Tributes for Emma Mhic Mhathúna as ‘another brave mother leaves this world’
Emma Mhic Mhathúna, whose children’s needs were front and centre of all she did, has died, aged 37. She leaves behind five children, the youngest of whom is just two, following a harrowing battle with cancer which had its genesis in a misread cervical smear test.
Stephen Teap, whose wife Irene, a mother of two, also died of cervical cancer following misread smears, said: “Another brave mother leaves this world and gets her wings and leaves behind five amazing children.”
Her family said they could “take some comfort in the knowledge that Emma will be long-remembered by the thousands of people who have been inspired by her fight for justice, transparency, and improved services”.
Vicky Phelan, whose court case in relation to her own misread smear exposed significant transparency failures within the national screening programme, said she was “not often lost for words”, but struggled yesterday, as she deals with her own terminal cancer.
At the end of the day, five children are left behind. Her youngest is only two and will that poor child remember her? That’s an awful thing to think, as a mother,” she said.
Vicky, speaking on RTÉ radio, said Emma’s children “will certainly know she fought very hard to stay in this world and she fought to get as much money as she could to provide for them once she was gone”,
Last May, Emma secured a €7.5m settlement, in a case against Quest Diagnostics, for misreading her smears in 2010 and 2013, and the HSE, for failing to disclose the findings of an audit.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said Emma “did us all a huge service” with her advocacy for the HPV vaccine, designed to protect against cervical cancer.
I am determined that something positive should come from this tragedy, and it’s my objective to virtually eliminate cervical cancer in Ireland,” the Taoiseach said.
The HSE said Emma’s “steadfast courage”, in the face of a terrible prognosis, was central in the establishment of the Scally Review — which examined the failings of CervicalCheck — and made 50 recommendations last month to improve the service.
President Michael D Higgins met Ms Mhic Mhathúna and her family this summer and said he was “greatly saddened” to hear of her passing.
“When I met her and her children in May, I was greatly struck by her poise and bravery, in the midst of what was a very difficult time for her family and friends,” said President Higgins.
On behalf of the people of Ireland, I send my condolences to her family, friends, the wider community in West Kerry, and to all those who have shared Ms Mhic Mhathúna’s journey as she battled the disease.
Mr Varadkar expressed his “heartfelt sympathy” to Ms Mhic Mhathúna’s family and said she did the State a “huge service with her advocacy for the HPV vaccine”.
“I am determined that something positive should come from this tragedy, and it’s my objective to virtually eliminate cervical cancer in Ireland,” he said.
The Irish Cancer Society paid tribute to Ms Mhic Mhathúna’s bravery and honesty and said that her efforts in highlighting the HPV vaccine “will mean fewer women will have to go through a terrible disease which has taken her life all too soon”.
The Marie Keating Foundation also expressed its sympathy to Ms Mhic Mhathúna’s family.
The people of West Kerry, where the 37-year-old had moved in the past year with her five children, also paid tribute to her life and bravery.
A regular at Mass in Séipéal na Carraige, Baile na nGall, and in the church in Baile an Fheirtéaraigh, Emma and her five children — one girl and four boys — were very much part of the community, attending local schools and playing football for An Ghaeltacht, said locals.
Parish priest of Baile an Fheirtéaraigh, An tAthair Eoghan Ó Cadhla, described Ms Mhic Mhathúna as a person of great courage and great faith.
“She fought a tremendous battle for herself and for women,” he said.
The priest said she had received huge support in her local community and had great friends and that her death left a huge void in the area.
Two of her sons were confirmed together in May in Baile an Fheirtéaraigh, with special arrangements put in place to fast-track the younger son’s confirmation because of his mother’s diagnosis.
Dara Ó Cinnéide, regional manager of Raidió na Gaeltachta and former Kerry footballer, said:
“We would have admired her courage and tenacity in the face of adversity here in RnaG and her children would be cherished members of An Ghaeltacht underage teams,” he said.
The people of Kerry showed their support for Ms Mhic Mhathúna publicly during the summer.
Up to 400 people, the majority of them women, turned out in Tralee as a show of support in mid-May and hundreds more attended vigils on the beach in Baile na nGall.
