A shuttle bus service is being organised for those attending Vicky Phelan's public memorial service tomorrow.

Thousands are expected to travel to the late campaigner's hometown of Mooncoin, Co. Kilkenny, for the ceremony, which will begin at 1pm on Sunday afternoon.

A park-and-ride facility will be in place from 11am to transfer people from the designated car parks to the Church of the Assumption and to Mooncoin GAA complex, where the service will be live-streamed.

A private funeral service was held last week for family and friends following Ms Phelan's death.

Now, members of the public will mourn and remember the mother of two's impact on Ireland and women's health.

Ms Phelan had a routine smear test in 2011 and, although she was told that her test showed no abnormalities, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2014.

An internal CervicalCheck review found the original result to be incorrect, but it would be another three years before she would be informed of the mistake.

'Fighting the system'

For her friend David Brennan, who knew her since they were both children, raising awareness for the mistakes made was a decision very much in keeping with her determined character.

“None of us were surprised when Vicky took the stand that she did in 2018 - because that’s exactly Vicky", he told Lunchtime Live.

“She wouldn’t have just rolled over and fighting the system was definitely part of her personality.”

Instead, she took Clinical Pathology Labs US to court and settled for €2.5m, without an admission of liability.

“She knew when she was being asked to sign a nondisclosure agreement there must be other women involved and if that was the case, she would do what was right and that was Vicky out and out”, Mr Brennan said.

Main image shows Irish cervical cancer campaigner Vicky Phelan. Picture by: PA Images/Alamy