Skyper (95) wins Silver Surfer award

The old cliché of never being able to teach an old dog new tricks was firmly disproved this afternoon at the Silver Surfer of the Year awards in Dublin.

The old cliché of never being able to teach an old dog new tricks was firmly disproved this afternoon at the Silver Surfer of the Year awards in Dublin.

A 95-year-old Co Tyrone woman took the top award having mastered a computer she got from her family for Christmas and learned how to Skype her great-grandchildren.

Marguerite Faulkner, from Cookstown, now uses the computer to surf the net, send emails and communicate with her seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren via Skype

She has also completed a digital photography course and when not on her computer, likes to use the "brain training" games on her games console.

Minister for Older People Áine Brady presented the award to Ms Faulkner at the IMAGINE IT! Conference in Croke Park today.

Ms Faulkner fought off competition from two other finalists; Mabel Gargan (87) a self-taught computer user who surfs every day, and Tom Crotty (75), who records his own songs using music editing software.

Four other awards were presented at the event. Marie O'Gorman (75), Walkinstown, Dublin took the award for Most Dedicated IT Learner. She began to learn about computers when her daughter moved to Armenia with her husband and young family to do humanitarian work. She is a volunteer in the local school, teaching the children to knit and sew and she downloads patterns from the internet and prints them off for her weekly classes.

Charlie Byrne, Donnybrook, Dublin was the Group Communicator of the Year. He runs a website and electronic newsletter for RTE pensioners.

The Passionate Hobbyist of the Year was John O'Toole (86), originally from Santry, who has Parkinson's Disease, but uses a special keyboard with large keys. He has an interest in local history and uses the internet for research.

Stella Connor, Drogheda, Co Louth took the award for IT Volunteer of the Year.

The winners received prizes of IT products.

Up to 300 people attended the conference organised by older people's charity, Age Action. The charity expects to train 5,000 older people in computer and mobile phone usage by the end of the year as part of its Getting Started programme.