Valerie Place

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 during the conflict and famine in the early 1990s.

Early life Valerie Place was born at 20 St Brendan's Crescent, Walkinstown, 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). Place's funeral at the Church of the Holy Spirit, Greenhills, Dublin was attended by 2,000 people, including Irish President Mary Robinson. 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 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.