I first met Veronica in October 1976 when we enrolled on the same one-year diploma course in social work at the London School of Economics and Political Science. That year, there was a large Irish contingent, some of whom had grown up in England. The school regarded itself as the foremost social science institute, a view which Veronica treated with some disdain. Immediately she voiced bewilderment about the absence of child sexual abuse modules from the social work course. The Freudian tradition was still in ascendancy.
The course had many elements which appealed to Veronica - those which enquired about the role of values in social work, the need for a common moral basis to underpin training and practice and the importance of community-based initiatives.
Veronica was quite clear that a primary social work task was to protect vulnerable children from neglect and abuse. She believed passionately in the right of children to grow up in supportive, safe environments.
SHE had boundless energy and enjoyed her time on the course. There was, for example, the famous house party somewhere in outer London: as the guests made their way to the station to board the last train back to central London they encountered Veronica and her companions seeking directions to the party. The night was still young.
Soon after the course finished Veronica returned to Ireland. In a short time, she took a health board social work post in Navan. She and her colleagues shared a desk and chairs in the office of a geriatric home. From there a fledging child protection service was developed for Co Meath.
In 1981 Veronica married Michael following a friendship extending back to schooldays. There was a view among her friends that in her progression from childhood to matrimony Veronica had neglected to learn the basic skills of sewing, knitting and dressmaking. In marriage, Veronica and Michael bestowed endless love and attention on their children, Kate and George. Even in poor health Veronica never overlooked the importance of planning interesting family outings and holidays, celebrating family occasions and encouraging her children, nieces and nephews in their wide-ranging pursuits.
In 1985, Veronica transferred to Co Louth where she now had her own office. She was very aware of the difficulty within a large organisation of instigating and completing work that would bring long-term benefit to children. In Co Louth she was required to take a number of children into care and to place them with foster families. She was acutely aware of the need to mediate creatively the two family dimensions of the lives of children placed in foster care or for adoption. Veronica was proud to be a social worker and to promote core values such as respect for families, listening to children and helping to build on latent strengths within people and communities.
In 1991 Veronica's first cancer illness was diagnosed and treated. From 1992 to 1995 she worked as the regional co-ordinator of the Child Abuse Prevention Programme. This aimed to prevent abuse by equipping parents and teachers with the knowledge and skills necessary to protect children in their care. The Stay Safe programme was introduced successfully, sometimes in difficult circumstances, into most primary schools in the region.
Veronica became a member of the original multidisciplinary team which developed the NEHB child care foundation course. It was largely through her efforts that this course was completed and delivered to more than 5,000 staff in the region. She also worked on a "Responding to a School Tragedy" project and on a cross-border project to develop materials for preventing sexual abuse of young people with learning disabilities.
Veronica will not be forgotten by her family and wide circle of friends. She placed great value on nurturing friendships and alliances with people. She worked tirelessly in the expectation that in society the welfare of children will become a matter of paramount importance. D.C.