Valerie Lady Goulding (85) who died yesterday in a Dublin nursing home, was best known for her long association with the Central Remedial Clinic and her work for the handicapped.
Once described as the best known voluntary social worker in Ireland, she was relentless in her pursuit of the provision of facilities and training for those born with physical disabilities. She was chairperson and managing director of the clinic, based in Clontarf, Dublin, from 1951 to 1984, and also chairperson of the management board of the clinic's school.
The clinic, which was launched with just one room and two patients, today provides a comprehensive range of services for close on 3,500 children and 500 adults throughout the State. It caters for the majority of children in the Republic with cerebral palsy and spina bifida and is a national centre for children with muscular dystrophy and arthrogryposis.
The CRC's chairman, Mr Des Peelo, said yesterday: "Lady Goulding's strong determination and sense of vision have been a constant source of inspiration to all who have been privileged to work with her or whose lives have come into contact with hers."
Close to Fianna Fáil, she enlisted the help of Mr Charles Haughey as a fund-raiser and they remained close friends.
She was nominated to the Seanad by the then Taoiseach, Mr Jack Lynch, in 1977, and later took the party whip. She was an unsuccessful FF candidate in Dún Laoghaire in the November 1982 election when Mr Haughey was party leader.
Her first loyalty was to the handicapped, and among those she helped and encouraged were the disabled writer, Christy Browne, and the disabled poet, Christopher Nolan.
She was born the Honourable Valerie Hamilton Monckton in Kent, England, in September 1918, daughter of Viscount Monckton of Brenchly, who was attorney general to the Duchy of Cornwall and legal adviser to King Edward V111.
He was a cabinet minister in the British Conservative government. During the abdication crisis, Lady Goulding was taken out of college to act as her father's secretary and courier to ensure total secrecy for the king.
She met her husband, Sir William Basil Goulding, a businessman, when she came to Ireland, aged 20, to attend a race meeting in Fairyhouse. They were engaged within two months and married a month later. He died in 1982.
Her concern for the disadvantaged was shown in her voluntary work as a kitchen help at Marrowbone Lane health centre. In 1951, with the late Ms Kathleen O'Rourke, she founded the Central Remedial Clinic to help children suffering from polio.
The clinic was totally funded by voluntary contributions until 1977, when it received State help.
She won numerous awards, including a gold medal from the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland.
She received honorary doctorates from the National University of Ireland and Stonehill, Boston. In 1990, she won the Lord Mayor of Dublin's award.
Lady Goulding is survived by her three sons, Sir Lingard, Timothy and Hamilton and her brother, Viscount Monckton of Brenchley.
In a statement last night the Tánaiste, Ms Harney, said she was deeply saddened to learn of the death. "I will always remember, with great affection, being appointed with Lady Goulding to serve in the Seanad back in 1977. She will be remembered fondly as a pioneer for the proper treatment and care of many thousands of Irish people stricken with polio in the 1950s."
Lady Goulding and her late husband, Ms Harney said, stood as a formidable force for change and made an outstanding contribution to Irish society.
