Emma Mhic Mhathúna, one of the women at the centre of the cervical cancer controversy, died in Kerry yesterday. She had five children and was one of 221 women with cervical cancer found to have been given incorrect test results during a clinical audit by the CervicalCheck screening programme.

Cervical cancer sufferer Emma Mhic Mhathúna believes Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has been ‘checkmated’ by US cancer-testing labs as a result of his statement in May that “the State will settle and pursue the lab later”.

One of the women who helped expose the cervical smear test scandal has slated the US labs and warned those involved that she is “coming after them”.

Progress has been made in actions brought by three women affected by the CervicalCheck controversy, including Kerry woman Emma Mhic Mhathúna, the High Court heard this morning.

Up to 400 people, most of them women, turned out in the Square in Tralee yesterday evening in a show of support for Emma Mhic Mhathúna, the 37-year-old mother of five whose smear test failed to detect cancer warning signs and who now has terminal cancer.

Now is the time for fundamental reform. Now is the time for a massive shake-up of our health system, writes Fergus Finlay.

Up to 400 people, most of them women, turned out in the Square in Tralee this evening in a show of support for Emma Mhic Mhathúna, the 37-year-old mother of five, whose cervical cancer was missed.