A well-known poet living in Galway has penned a moving tribute to cancer campaigner Vicky Phelan as she resumes life-saving treatment in the US.
She had been undergoing an experimental trial in Maryland since January after she developed a new tumour for the first time in over two years. The Irish public has extended their well-wishes to her in their thousands, with one man going a step further by writing a beautiful poem for the Kilkenny native.
The wordsmith has now turned his focus to Vicky Phelan, saying that as she lands in America, "it is time for us all to be her flatmates again"The poem opens: "The new girl moved in next door. From Ireland. And four million Irish flatmates with her, with their arragh go on at the end of each day. Asking her 'what's the craic?'."