Vicky Phelan says she 'hasn’t been well' since unveiling of portrait
Vicky said it has been a "long week"
Campaigner Vicky Phelan said she “hasn’t been well” since the unveiling of her portrait a week ago, but she is starting to feel “a little bit better.”
On Sunday, the CervicalCheck campaigner joined Miriam O’Callaghan on RTÉ Radio 1 to discuss the auctioning of artist Vincent Devine’s portrait of her, which was commissioned by Heroes Aid.
The Kilkenny native, who returned to her hometown of Mooncoin for the auction, told Miriam she was feeling a “bit better” now but it had been a “long week.”
“I haven’t been well this week,” she said.
"The day of the painting, I had to get sick a few times.. but I went ahead with it as it wasn’t going to be a long event and I really didn’t want to cancel it again.”
The activist said she “muddled through” the auction, with the painting ultimately sold for €58,000 to David Brennan, a neighbour and friend of Vicky’s family.
The Limerick mother-of-two, who was forced to cancel her appearance alongside former RTÉ reporter Charlie Bird on on Friday to launch the Climb with Charlie campaign, said it’s been a “long week” of bed rest.
Vicky said she was “in shock” that family friend David bought the portrait but it was “an absolute dream come through.”
“For my father and mother, it’s one of the nicest things anybody has ever done for them, they are not people who say too much but they were utterly so delighted and proud that David would do something like that for us.”
The painting by Tullamore artist Vincent Devine, is a large rectangular triptych, featuring acrylic on canvass. In total the piece measures 4-foot-9 by 9-foot-8 and tells the story of Vicky Phelan’s life in three panels.
Vicky said the painting “means the world” and is something that will “live on forever."
