President Michael D Higgins has led tributes to Irish motorsport legend Rosemary Smith, who has died at the age of 86.
The Dubliner was a pioneering force in the world of rally driving and thrived in a male-dominated world to take wins in the Dutch Tulip Rally, Scottish Rally and Alpine Rally.
She also set the land speed record in Cork in 1978 and became the oldest person to drive a F1 car in 2017, at the age of 79.
Ms Smith passed away at the Beacon Hospital on Tuesday following a short illness.
President Higgins has said she would be remembered as "one of the most fearless and remarkable Irish sportspeople to have graced the international stage".
"In an extraordinary motorsport career, she defied all expectations of her time in becoming a renowned force in a sport then, as now, so heavily dominated by men," he said.
Rosemary Smith is pictured ahead of the Monte Carlo Rally, 17-1-1963. Image: PA Images / Alamy"Her remarkable career, including her 1965 victory in the Tulip Rally, where Rosemary remains the only woman ever to win the race, and so many more victories and achievements besides, stands as a shining example of the great impact which women can have in every area of sport."
Ms Smith was also induced into the FIVA Heritage Hall of Fame in 2022 - the first Irish person to be honoured in this way.
President Higgins said he wrote to her at the time to "pay tribute to the invaluable and generous contribution which Rosemary made to the life and reputation of Irish motorsport".
"May I extend my deepest sympathies to Rosemary’s family, colleagues and friends on her passing," he added.
More recently, Ms Smith helped launch a recruitment drive to attract more women drivers to Dublin Bus back in 2019.
Speaking at the time, she said: "I've never allowed my gender to limit me in what I want to achieve.
"From being the only woman driver to win the Tulip Rally outright in a Hillman Imp in the 1970s to being the oldest woman to drive a Formula 1 car a few years ago when I was 79, I've always done things which many thought only men could do," she added.
