Tributes have been paid to HPV vaccine campaigner Laura Brennan.

A book of condolences was opened at Clare County Council this morning, after the 26-year-old passed away yesterday.

Laura was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2016, and went on to become one of the most prominent advocates for the HPV vaccine.

Friends have described her as 'selfless' and 'courageous', after the uptake for the vaccination increased to 70% since she joined a HSE campaign.

Her best friend Veronica Maloney says the strength of Laura and her family impacted everyone around them.

Speaking on Lunchtime Live, Veronica said she last saw Laura last Friday.

She recalled: "I was over at her house, just [as] normal having tea. Her mam Bernie had got donuts, and she was trying to keep her weight up.

"She was in great form - she was chatting away, just full of life. I think that's why it was such a shock, because she had just rallied on so many times."

The HSE's National Director for Strategic Planning and Transformation, Stephanie O'Keefe, said Laura's willingness to front a campaign on the HPV vaccine will save lives.

She observed: "Vaccination is about protecting something that doesn't exist now - it's about protecting something that exists in the future.

"She embodied what that risk looked like and felt like, in a very profound and deep way."

CEO of the Marie Keating Foundation, Liz Yeates, said in a statement that Laura "achieved so much".

She suggested: "Her courage and dignity in sharing her own cancer journey was remarkable but to use the last 18 months of her life to affect real change, was truly selfless."

The funeral mass for Laura will be held next Wednesday in Co Clare.

A mass of remembrance and celebration will be held for her on March 27th in Ennis Cathedral at 1pm.