Overview
- Dermot O'Neill told The Irish Sun that Patricia 'Chickie' Maguire died in the early hours on Monday at St Francis Hospice in Blanchardstown and that the family are "absolutely devastated."
- The couple had travelled to Spain in January for a hernia operation and surgeons there found multiple tumours, leading to a stage-four cancer diagnosis and a decision not to operate.
- After returning to Ireland Patricia underwent chemotherapy at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin before being moved to palliative care in recent weeks.
- Patricia, 60, was a mother of seven who had worked at Dunnes Stores and had spoken publicly in April about family wishes such as seeing her young granddaughter again; Dermot and Patricia married in 2012 after a long relationship.
- The case has drawn attention to the couple's cross-border care choices and to health-system wait times that led them to seek faster treatment abroad, and friends, colleagues and charities have offered condolences and support information to the family.