The Taoiseach has paid tribute to Fine Gael TD, Nicky McFadden, who lost her battle with motor neurone disease yesterday.

Ms McFadden (51) was a TD for Longford/Westmeath and a mother of two children, Caren and Eoin. She had been elected to the Dail in the 2011 General Election.

The Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, said that everyone in Leinster House was ‘devastated' by her death, but added that they were also uplifted by Ms McFadden's ‘magnificant courage'.

She had been diagnosed with motor neurone disease at the end of 2012 when she was just 49.

Motor neurone disease is the name given to a group of related diseases in which there is progressive degeneration of the motor neurones in the brain and spinal cord. Motor neurones are the nerve cells that control muscles, and their degeneration therefore leads to weakness and wasting of the muscles.

This causes an increasing loss of mobility in the limbs and difficulties with speech, swallowing and breathing. There is currently no cure for the disease.

Meanwhile, also speaking about Ms McFadden's untimely passing, President Michael D. Higgins said that she had displayed ‘immense courage', while the Minister for Social Protection, Joan Burton, said that her death would be ‘deeply felt' in both Leinster House and her constituency.

And Fianna Fail Leader, Micheal Martin, said that she represented the very best of commitment to public service in this country.

"Very often politics can attract negative commentary, but we can stand back and reflect on the life and career of a person like Nicky McFadden, whose fundamental motivation was to serve the public.

"Deputy McFadden bore a difficult condition bravely. Motor Neurone Disease strikes terror into any family or person with a diagnosis, but it did not stop her bravely organising a number of functions to focus attention on the disease and act as a catalyst to resource research into the condition, advance treatment and, ultimately, identify a cure," he added.