Ireland has a confusing, and often contradictory, culture when it comes to the idea of ageing, and it’s something that local people are attempting to change.

On the one hand, children are taught to respect their grandparents and learn from the experience of their elders.

On the other, our society possesses a whole set of unhelpful and infantilising stereotypes, assumptions and prejudices that impose unnecessary limits on the lives of pensioners.

Recent studies have shown that having a positive attitude to ageing increases a person’s lifespan by an average of about seven years.

The same research indicated that a person’s approach to growing older has a far greater impact on their well-being than even their diet and exercise routine. Intrigued by these findings and interested in how local people would react to them, I went along to an event in Omagh Library called ‘Changing Attitudes to Ageing’, on Monday afternoon.

“I want to talk to you all about ageism, positive ageing and the impact of ageing well,” began Eddie Lynch, Northern Ireland’s Commissioner for Older People, who was the keynote speaker on the day.

Addressing a full-house of senior citizens and representatives from local organisations and charities, Eddie, a man much more down to earth than his lofty title would suggest, gave a casual, honest and eye-opening talk about the social strictures we place on older people, the inadvertent ageist discrimination people unknowingly participate in, and the ways in which can work together to bring about a world where ageing is not viewed as a process to be feared, but, instead, as a change to be embraced.

“Tackling ageism is one of my key priorities and my recent report ‘Are you ageist?’ found that ageism is still one of the most socially-accepted forms of discrimination in Northern Ireland,” he described.

“Research shows that adopting a positive attitude towards getting older contributes to a longer, more fulfilling life.

“However, embracing such positivity can be challenging due to the negative stereotypes of older adults that still exist in our society. If internalised, these prejudices can lead to self-doubt and limiting beliefs.”

Esteem

Apparently, attitudes to maturation are far from universal.

In Japan, for example, Eddie explained that older people are held in high-esteem; their experience and wisdom culturally considered to be a valuable social asset.

Conversely, in the UK and Ireland, growing older is commonly connected with ideas of weakness, vulnerability and dependency with words like ‘darling’ and ‘pet’ condescendingly creeping into people’s lives when they get into their 70s. By extension, rather than seeing older people as capable of contributing to society, popular narratives too often characterise them as a ‘burden’, ‘weight’ and ‘strain’ on our shared resources and services.

Eddie drew upon a sporting example to highlight the fallaciousness of this wrongheaded reasoning.

“As a Manchester United fan, I find the idea that older people cannot be assets to be totally ludicrous. In 2013 we lost our 71-year-old manager, and where have been been going ever since? That’s right – down,” said Eddie, to the amusement of the football fans in attendance.

At the moment, one in six people in the North are over-65. By 2027, projections predict that there will be more over-65s than under-15s. This, Eddie emphasised, should serve as an irrepressible impetus to reconsider how we as a society view ageing.

“Workplaces need to become more flexible in order to allow people to stay at their work longer.

“You would not believe the amount of people who tell me that they retired before they wanted to, just because the boss could not make a few adjustments to their hours.

“For a lot of people, losing their job means losing their identity. I had one man tell me recently that he went to his work as a somebody on Friday, only to wake up on Monday, retired, and feeling like a nobody.

“As well as that, we need to revise the way our GPs work. They changed drastically during the pandemic, and not without reason. However, the world is no longer the same as it was then, but that same over-the-phone model remains in place.

“When I give talks like this, I always ask if people are satisfied with their GPs, and the answer is always the same. Most people cannot get a face-to-face appointment no matter how hard they try. If you have a small child, though, getting that appointment will be much easier. That is ageism in action. That is the kind of discrimination we are talking about.”

Barriers

Eddie continued to make a compelling case for the need to collectively review and remove barriers that stand in the path of older people achieving happiness and fulfilment.

However, he also placed some of the onus of ageing positively upon pensioners themselves.

“Everybody has a responsibility to improve their own attitude to getting older. Join groups, meet with friends and family regularly, take whatever steps you can to stay active and independent. Fermanagh and Omagh is fortunate to have so many great groups available to older people.

“Take advantage of them, and, most importantly, keeping picking up new hobbies, keep active and keep having fun. If that means a few glasses on wine now and again, well, so be it.”

Changing Attitudes to Ageing was organised by the Commissioner for Older People NI (COPNI), The Open University Ireland (OU) and Libraries NI.

Other guest speakers included Dr Sinéad Eccles, a chartered neuropsychologist from The Open University.

At the event, local charities and organisations that were represented included from Home-Start Omagh; Omagh Volunteer Centre; The B-Friend Hub Omagh; Omagh Healthy Living; Make the Call (benefits advice and support service); Age NI; South West Age Partnership; Royal National Institute for Deaf People; Hourglass (preventing abuse of older people); and the PSNI.