SABINA HIGGINS IS undergoing treatment for breast cancer.

In a statement issued this afternoon, Áras an Uachtaráin announced that she “yesterday underwent a successful procedure as part of ongoing treatment which she is receiving for breast cancer”.

Sabina Higgins issued a statement thanking doctors and medical staff for providing her with “expert care” throughout her treatment.

The statement does not clarify when the President’s wife was first diagnosed.

“I would like to take the opportunity of my diagnosis to call on all women to be aware of the symptoms of breast cancer and to seek checks as regularly as they can,” she said in her statement.

She went on to encourage women over the age of 70 to be vigilant in checking for potential signs of breast cancer and to “seek medical checks whenever possible”.

“It may come as a surprise to many people to learn that the risk of breast cancer increases with age and that 36% of women diagnosed with breast cancer in Ireland are over the age of 70,” she said.

“While BreastCheck screening runs for women up to the age of 69, I would urge all women over the age of 70 of the vital importance of continuing to look for any potential symptoms of breast cancer on a regular basis and to seek medical checks whenever possible.”

Sabina Higgins, originally an actress, was born Sabina Coyne in County Mayo in 1942 and married Michael D Higgins in 1974. The couple have four children together.