How Vicky Phelan harnessed her anger and became the people’s warrior

Vicky Phelan harnessed her anger and became a talisman for the women who had been failed by a flawed system

Vicky Phelan leaving the High Court in Dublin in 2018. Picture: CourtPix

Society doesn’t look too kindly on angry women. ‘Good’ girls don’t lose their cool, they don’t rock the boat, or the system — they are polite, pleasing, co-operative. When Vicky Phelan stood outside the High Court in April 2018 and called for an investigation into the CervicalCheck screening programme, she was angry and she didn’t care who knew it.

The impact that her impassioned speech and all that followed had on women throughout Ireland can never be underestimated.