The Dun Laoghaire Active Retirement Association celebrated their jubilee anniversary on 7 September, and welcomed the recent findings from ‘Towards an Age-Friendly Ireland: Ageism and Older People in 2018’, which highlighted that Ireland is improving when it comes to ageism in the community.

The Dun Laoghaire Active Retirement group is Ireland’s first ever retirement association and is based in the Boylan community Centre, Dun Laoghaire and has around 150 members.  Phone 01 873 3836

Speaking at the anniversary celebration, Maureen Kavanagh, CEO of Active Retirement Ireland, said: “It’s clear Ireland is becoming more age-friendly, as our research indicates, but there is still a pervasive element of casual ageism in our society that we need to tackle.”

For its qualitative research report, ‘Towards an Age-Friendly Ireland: Ageism and Older People in 2018’, Active Retirement Ireland asked 100 members – randomly selected from its 545 groups nationwide – a series of questions about their lived experience of ageism.  Participants ranged from 50 to 92 in age.

Key findings included:

• 34 per cent of respondents had experienced mild casual ageism on a regular basis, such as family members, acquaintances or professional contacts making assumptions about their interests based on their age.
• 42 per cent had direct experience of health-related ageism.
• 43 per cent had experience of being grouped as “older people, the elderly, seniors, or similar” in a negative fashion.
• 19 per cent have felt humiliated or hurt by comments about their age.

On a positive note, the report indicates older people are less likely to experience institutional ageism in healthcare settings.

People join Active Retirement for many reasons. Some simply want something to do; some want to meet new people and try new things; for some it’s a vital social connection.

Joining Active Retirement is not just a chance to meet people in your local area and try new things. Being a member gives you access to a host of exclusive discounts not available anywhere else.

When you join your local group, you don’t just get to play a part in your own community. You’re part of a national network of over 24,500 people. Working at national level helps Active Retirement Ireland ensure that they can make Ireland a better place for people of all ages.

The Dun Laoghaire Active Retirement Group webpage is located: here