A lasting legacy: 'Vicky has left an army of people behind her who will continue fighting'
Vicky Phelan with NWCI director Orla O’Connor at #FemFest 2019: ‘The Women’s Council are forever indebted to Vicky’.
She became a public figure with her work as a campaigner on the CervicalCheck scandal but Vicky Phelan’s impact on all areas of women’s health in Ireland has been immeasurable.
Her bravery in coming forward has had a knock-on effect that will be felt long into the future, according to Orla O’Connor, director of the National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI).
“Right from the moment when Vicky went public, she was very clearly doing it for so many women — and the health of women everywhere. Vicky put herself out there and in doing so, made an enormous difference,” says Ms O’Connor.
“The NWCI worked with Vicky many times and she was absolutely incredible in terms of all her contribution around women’s health. Right from the start, she said ‘you need to listen to women, you need to take their experiences seriously’. That was one of the key things that then came out of the Scally Report into the scandal — that the fact women’s voices and their experiences weren’t taken seriously was having an enormous negative impact on women’s health.”
As a result of the Scally Report, the Department of Health established the Women’s Health Taskforce in September 2019 to improve women’s health outcomes and experiences of healthcare.
“As part of that we have a new women’s action plan which places listening to women’s experiences at its centre," explains Ms O’Connor.
She also pays tribute to Vicky’s fortitude in fighting for women’s equality at a time of immense personal difficulty.
“When she was undergoing huge health challenges, she also came forward very strongly in terms of the repeal referendum. Again, she was just incredible to show that support and solidarity. She recognised how the abortion issue was very much about women being able to make their own decisions about their health. She was a very central and really important voice in that, in terms of achieving a huge change for women — I know it is something that we in the Women’s Council are eternally grateful to her for.”
Ms O’Connor says Vicky’s influence across all generations of women could be seen when in 2019, she was one of the contributors to FemFest, the NWCI flagship conference for young women. “We were running workshops with young women and we were talking to them about who were their role models. They said they would really like to hear from Vicky Phelan. There is something really important in how she touched and connected with people of all generations.
“She was absolutely incredible. She said to them, ‘look, whatever is important to you, stand up and talk about it and feel supported and have the confidence to do it’. They really felt she connected with them. My memory of it is that she described herself as an ordinary woman, and we said, ‘no, you are an absolutely extraordinary woman’. That was an incredible day.”
Vicky’s impact could also be felt in Budget 2022, when €31m in funding was provided for an action programme on women’s health, including increased access to free contraception, tackling period poverty, and the establishment of more dedicated menopause clinics.
“That €31m was all part of the work of the Women’s Health Taskforce, which came from the Scally Report and from the strength of Vicky and also the other women affected by the CervicalCheck scandal and their families — Stephen Teap was also really important in that. You can definitely say Vicky is very much a part of why we have that funding today, and the recognition that we need separate funding for women’s health,” says Ms O’Connor.
While the budget allocation was a sign that the Women’s Health Taskforce is having an impact, she says that progress in the area is still slow.“There is such a mountain to climb in terms of the recognition of the importance of women’s health. You can see that, for example, around the whole issue of the [Covid] restrictions in maternity hospitals.
“It is a very slow process in terms of the transformation that is needed in our health system to make it one that takes women’s concerns seriously. That also flows from the top, in terms of women needing to be present at senior leadership level, we have seen that in terms of Covid, so structural change is also needed. We are definitely not there yet but there are positive signs.”
Ms O’Connor says that she and Vicky had spoken about how it is still unacceptable that changes are often wrought on the back of women’s pain. “When we look at the changes that have happened for women, they have really all happened on the back of enormous tragedies and struggles for individual women and there is something really wrong about that.
“We have had to fight so hard. Even on the abortion issue, there was such a sea change around Savita Halappanavar. I think there is something really significant about that, that shouldn’t have to be the way we achieve change.”
She adds that there are also remaining issues to be resolved in terms of CervicalCheck. “That is absolutely unfinished in terms of what is needed for women. We have had reviews and all of that but the survivors and the families are still fighting to have their voices heard.
“One of the lessons from this is that it is important to bring in the people who have experienced the issue but they also need to be leading the change and not brought in in a tokenistic way.”
While the struggle continues, Ms O’Connor says that Vicky has transformed the way women’s health is viewed and spoken about.
“Vicky talked about everything. She leaves women’s health in a very different place than where it was before she went public. We may not be getting all the changes we want but Vicky has left an army of people behind her who will continue fighting.”
Vicky Phelan. Picture: Cathal Noonan
20/07/2018 Vicky Phelan who received a Gamechanger Ambassador Award during the Womans Way & Beko Mum of the Year Awards at The Gibson Hotel, Dublin. Picture: Gareth Chaney Collins
Vicky Phelan at the Network Ireland Businesswoman of the Year Awards 2018, Roseann Heavey, president of Network Ireland presented The Trish Murphy Memorial Award to Vicky Phelan for her outstanding contribution to women in Ireland The Trish Murphy Memorial Award for Outstanding Contribution was created in memory of a woman that excelled in her field. Trish Murphy was a past Network Dublin President and national President. This award is presented to someone who is not involved with Network Ireland but who has made a significant contribution to their field. Picture: Andrew Downes, Xposure
26/06/18 Vicky Phelan pictured with her son Darragh. Vicky was conferred with an Honorary Doctorate given to her in recognition of her exceptional commitment to improving womenÕs healthcare in Ireland. University of Limerick (UL) conferred an honorary doctorate on university alumna and former employee, Vicky Phelan. UL president Dr Des Fitzgerald praised Vicky for her selfless commitment to public service, describing her as an inspiration to students, staff and the wider university community. Picture: Sean Curtin/True Media.
Vicky Phelan at the An Post Irish Book Awards 2019 at The Convention Centre, Dublin, Ireland - 20.11.19. Picture: VIPIRELAND.com
Irish Examiner, Feelgood feature. Limerick City. Vicky Phelan Picture: Cathal Noonan
A digital artwork of Vicky Phelan is projected onto the GPO in Dublin to mark the release of a feature documentary about her life next week. 'Vicky' tells the story of how the Limerick woman revealed issues with Ireland's cervical screening programme CervicalCheck. It airs in cinemas on October 7. Picture date: Thursday September 29, 2022.
02/11/2018. Labour's 70th National Conference. Picture (LtoR) Stephen Teap and Vicky Phelan after receiving the Jo Cox Award by Labour Women in the Ballsbridge Hotel at the Labour day conference on day 2. Picture: Sam Boal/RollingNews.ie
Vicky Phelan and Ryan Tubridy backstage at the Late Late Show
22/10/2019 CervicalCheck State Apology. Vicky Phelan on her way into the Dáil (Leinster House) to hear the Taoiseach apologise to the victims of the CervicalCheck controversy/Scandal. Picture: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie
Vicky Phelan at Cervical Check Patient Support Group, held at Farmleigh, Dublin. October 2018. Picture: Paul Sherwood
Vicky Phelan. Picture: Naomi Gaffey.
‘Overcoming’ by Vicky Phelan and Naomi Linehan, a book written about truth and bravery through Vicky’s remarkable personal story. Picture: MAXWELLPHOTOGRAPHY.IE
1/8/2018 Cervical Cancer Scandals. Cervical cancer victim Vicky Phelan speaking to the media in Government Buildings today after her meeting with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, over the recent court cases where Ruth Morrissey had to endure several days in court despite previous assurance that this would not happen. Picture: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie
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