Valerie Place (24 March 1969 - 22 February 1993) was an Irish nurse and overseas aid worker, who was the second western aid worker to be killed in

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

during the conflict and famine in the early 1990s.

Early life

Valerie Place was born at 20 St Brendan's Crescent,

Walkinstown Walkinstown () is a suburb of Dublin in Ireland, six kilometres southwest of the city centre. It is surrounded by Drimnagh to the north, Crumlin to the east, Greenhills to the south, and Ballymount, Bluebell, and Clondalkin to the west. Its ...

, Dublin on 24 March 1969. She was the third child of Patrick, coachbuilder, and Margaret Place (née Byrne). She had three brothers and two sisters. Place attended St Paul's secondary school, Greenhills, and was trained as a nurse at St. James's Hospital, Dublin from 1987 to 1990. She worked for a period with Caring and Sharing Association (CASA).

Career

Place went to

in September 1992 as a volunteer worker on a two-year contract with Concern, the Irish overseas aid agency. Concern had been part of the international emergency response in Somalia since May 1992. Place was one of 70 Irish aid workers based in 17 locations across Somalia. She was the supervisor of a feeding station for 2,500 children and an adjoining school in

Mogadishu Mogadishu (, also ; so, Muqdisho or ; ar, مقديشو ; it, Mogadiscio ), locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port connecting traders across the Indian Oc ...

. The aid workers worked with local guards, and later the

Unified Task Force The Unified Task Force (UNITAF) was a United States-led, United Nations-sanctioned multinational force which operated in Somalia from 5 December 1992 until 4 May 1993. A United States initiative (code-named Operation Restore Hope), U ...

of 30,000 troops to secure the areas for the distribution of humanitarian relief. The task force struggled to protect the aid convoys from attacks from armed groups.

Death and legacy

Place was travelling in a party, which included Rev.

Aengus Finucane Aengus Finucane (26 April 1932 – 6 October 2009) was a Roman Catholic missionary of the Spiritan Fathers order, who organized food shipments from Ireland to the Igbo people during the Nigerian Civil War. His younger brother Jack Finuca ...

, on 22 February 1993 to attend the opening of a school in Wanlewein for 1,200 when the party was ambushed. Place was fatally wounded when her car, the last in the convoy, was ambushed at

Afgoi Afgooye ( so, Afgooye, ar, أفجويى, it, Afgoi) is a town in the southwestern Somalia Lower Shebelle (Shabellaha Hoose) region of Somalia. It is the center of the Afgooye District. Afgooye is the third largest city of Southwest State. Afgo ...

. She was airlifted to a military hospital in Mogadishu by a US Air Force helicopter, but died within minutes of her arrival there. Place's funeral at the Church of the Holy Spirit, Greenhills, Dublin was attended by 2,000 people, including Irish President

Mary Robinson Mary Therese Winifred Robinson ( ga, Máire Mhic Róibín; ; born 21 May 1944) is an Irish politician who was the 7th president of Ireland, serving from December 1990 to September 1997, the first woman to hold this office. Prior to her electi ...

. Robinson had met Place during her visit to Somalia in October 1992. At the time of her death, Place was the second western aid worker killed in Somalia, after the death of

Sean Devereux Sean Devereux (25 November 1964 – 2 January 1993) was a British Salesian missionary and aid worker murdered in Kismayo, Somalia in 1993 while working for UNICEF. He has since become an important role model for the aid-working vocation, partic ...

in January 1993. Place's death caused demands that the task force do more to protect aid workers and to disarm the Somali factions, as well as prompting fresh criticism of the UN mandate in its failure to support military intervention with political initiatives. As the situation worsened, American troops withdrew in March 1994, and the UN disengaged in March 1995. The Irish Department of Foreign Affairs founded the Valerie Place commemorative scholarship in March 1993, which brings Somali teachers and nurses to train in Ireland. In June 1997, St. James's Hospital school of nursing unveiled a portrait and a classroom dedicated to her memory. There is also a mural to Place in Mogadishu.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Place, Valerie 1969 births 1993 deaths Irish nurses People murdered in Somalia Women nurses Health professionals from Dublin (city)