AGEING SHOULD be regarded as an opportunity for new challenges and beginnings rather than an endgame, President Mary McAleese has said.
Mrs McAleese said that over the past two decades, the tide of thinking about ageing has turned in Ireland and that the contribution and potential of older people is getting a considerably better hearing than in the past.
“There are things on the agenda today that were simply absent a short time ago: an emphasis on positive ageing, on ongoing social, physical and intellectual activity and life-long learning,” she said at an event celebrating the start of Age Action’s Positive Ageing Week in Dublin.
Mrs McAleese welcomed “a relentless and successful assault on the simplistic assumption” that discussions about ageing should focus on decline, increased infirmity and dependency.
“These are certainly part of the spectrum of issues that ageing gives rise to, but they are a long way from being the whole story.”
Some 800 events are taking place this week across the country as part of Positive Ageing Week.
Coffee mornings, theatre performances, table quizzes, fashion shows, heritage trips, dinner dances and céilithe are among the events organised.
Age Action chief executive Robin Webster said growing older was not something to be feared.
“Older people are a huge resource for Irish society, which to date has been relatively untapped or not acknowledged,” he said.
Mr Webster said the life skills of the State’s older population was a valuable resource at a time of economic difficulty.
“They are active volunteers, experienced workers, caring parents and grandparents, and citizens who have lived through several recessions,” he said.
“The lessons they have learnt from these experiences are more valuable now than ever.”
