My mother, Veronica McTernan, who has died aged 85, was a socialist and a country dancer who volunteered for more than 20 years supporting vulnerable children.
Her passion was politics – Veronica was a socialist to her fingertips. She stood as a Labour candidate for Edinburgh council in 1974, and several times after that. While she never won, she was a committed activist in her local community, in particular through her service on local school councils.
Veronica was born in London to Irish parents, Mary (nee O’Farrell) and Sean Murphy, both office clerks, and attended St Anne’s convent school in Ealing. She met Allen McTernan in the mid 1950s, when they were both working at EMI, and they married in 1958, filling their home with children – three born in London, another four after moving to Edinburgh in 1963. Once all her children were at school, Veronica returned to education to work towards a degree in business studies at Heriot Watt University.
Veronica and Allen were members of the Heriot Watt country dance team and prided themselves on sharing the joy of dance, whether with international students in Edinburgh or at various inter-Celtic festivals.
Just a few weeks after she graduated from Heriot Watt in 1989, Allen died suddenly following a brain haemorrhage. Veronica had been one of the first members of the children’s hearings system when it was established in the 70s in Scotland as an alternative to the juvenile justice system, and following Allen’s death she became a safeguarder, providing independent reports to hearings to safeguard the child’s best interests. Throughout her involvement, she valued the opportunity to support some of the most vulnerable children in society.
In 2008, Veronica moved to the Borders and became the heart and soul of the women’s section of her local Labour party. Following a stroke, she spent her final months in a care home in Edinburgh.
She is survived by her children, John, Fiona, James, Katy, Michael, Angela and me, and 14 grandchildren.
