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Death of Adrienne Cullen – wife of former Star journalist

January 9th, 2019 7:10 AM

By Southern Star Team

Adrienne Cullen, left, with her husband Peter Cluskey, at her conferring with an honorary degree in UCC last month.

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The death has taken place last week of the wife of a former Southern Star journalist.

THE death has taken place last week of the wife of a former Southern Star journalist.

Adrienne Cullen, (58), also a journalist, and wife of former Drimoleague resident Peter Cluskey, passed away in Holland on New Year’s Eve, having been given a late terminal cancer diagnosis, after a medical negligence case.

Ms Cullen, from Limerick, took on the Dutch health system and refused to sign non-disclosure forms as part of any settlement. A Dutch hospital had failed to inform her of the results of a smear test and she was later diagnosed with cervical cancer.

The Irish journalist was conferred with an honorary degree at her alma mater, UCC, in early December.

Her husband Peter, a former Southern Star, Irish Examiner, and RTÉ journalist, announced her death last week week. He wrote on Twitter that she had died at the Netherlands Cancer Institute at 10.15am on December 31st. 

‘To those who have been so loyal and generous – particularly UCC and Pádraig G Ó Sé for her honorary doctorate – a million thanks,’ he wrote. ‘She was appallingly treated and it made her a formidable warrior.’

Mr Cluskey spoke out strongly about how his wife was treated by the Dutch health system. On Christmas Eve, he tweeted to the hospital that his wife was in the Netherlands Cancer Institute ‘since Saturday struggling to eat or drink and trying to deal with uncontrollable pain.’

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