A Mayo woman stranded on a cruise ship off the coast of Australia has taken the first steps in her bid to repatriation.

Castlebar Musician Kate Heneghan had been quarantined on The Ruby Princess cruise ship near Sydney for nearly a month, but her and her band mates have today disembarked the ship.

Midwest News understands they are now quarantined in a hotel in Sydney and are awaiting news on when they can fly home to Ireland.

Ms Heneghan had a covid-19 test and antibody test, both of which came back as negative.