Former US Ambassador to the Republic of Ireland, JEAN KENNEDY- SMITH, has died at the age of 92.

JEAN SMITH served as the US ambassador to Ireland in the 1990s, playing an important role in attempts to end sectarian violence in Northern Ireland.

JEAN was the second youngest of the nine Kennedy siblings, that included former President JOHN KENNEDY and Senator ROBERT KENNEDY and the last-surviving child of JOSEPH KENNEDY and ROSE FITZGERALD.

In 2011, US President BARACK OBAMA awarded JEAN     the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honour in the country.