Sinn Féin Leader Mary Lou McDonald has expressed her deepest sympathies on the passing of Nell McCafferty.

Ms McDonald said: “It was with great sadness that I heard the news of Nell McCafferty’s passing.

“Nell was one of a kind. As a journalist and as a campaigner for women’s rights, for civil rights and social justice, she blazed a trail for others to follow.

“Nell was a talented, passionate and courageous feminist writer. She fearlessly wrote about and spoke out on the nature and consequences of embedded injustice and inequality.

“In what was a deeply conservative society, she confronted the issues that the good and the great preferred to sweep under the carpet.

“She constantly pushed the boundaries of social conservation in Ireland during times when it wasn’t easy to do so.

“Her work on the Kerry Babies ‘A Woman to Blame’ is one of the most important books of its time. Not only did it address a grave injustice, it also helped to inspire a generation of women to challenge second class citizenship and the denial of their rights.

“For her entire adult life, Nell McCafferty spoke the truth to power. She did so relentlessly and without fear or favour. She was deeply intelligent, had a razor sharp wit, and she was kind hearted. Nell really cared about ordinary people and about human dignity.

“Nell lived and worked every day to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. Most often, the powerful didn’t like it and that is how she knew she was doing the right thing.

“Nell McCafferty was a once in a generation journalist and writer. She helped to change Ireland for the better and she will be deeply missed by all who loved her.

“Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam.”