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We are pleased to offer a follow-on course to our initial 2-day Creative Exchanges course.

Creative Exchanges -Level 2 is a 2-day course (1 day per week over 2 weeks) designed for activities coordinators working in residential/day care settings. It is also suitable for those with an arts background interested in engaging with older people in a care setting*. It has been developed so participants can build on their learning from Creative Exchanges – Level 1 and develop further confidence in their roles.

Creative Exchanges Level -2 will provide participants with:
• Further practical skills to carry out creative activities with people in residential and day care settings.

• An opportunity to experience arts-based workshops which allow time to demonstrate skills learned and to receive specialised coaching and feedback (helpful tips for delivery in one’s own work setting).

• Space in which to explore and evaluate the effectiveness of different creative activities and approaches with particular groups in various settings.

On completion of the course a Certificate of Attendance will be provided by Age & Opportunity.

VENUE AND DATES
Venue: The Irish Museum of Modern Art, Kilmainham, Dublin 8
Dates: Wednesdays, 19th and 26th November Time: 10:15am – 4.45pm

COURSE FEE
Creative Exchanges course fee, €380 per participant. As places are limited this needs to be paid in advance to secure a place. For more information, please contact Fiona at
fiona.holohan@ageandopportunity.ie or Tel (01) 913 3922. Participants must attend both days.

Full information about the course here:  Creative Exchanges Level 2 – Course Outline

*If you are a professional artist (working within a creative or interpretive art form as defined by the Arts Act of 2003), you might
like to explore either the Artists Care Exchange or the Arts, Health and the Older Person, training initiatives we offer for
professional artists, visit: www.ageandopportunity.ie/arts for more detail.

Have you ever considered that as we age, we have the chance to become more fully ourselves? More and not less, individual. Mary Sarton, in her journal, At Seventy, makes this point.

Did your younger self have particular ideas about how an older person should act, seem, or live? Were they prescriptive, limiting? Do you feel the same now?

Have you ever thought about how we are aged by ‘culture’ – the landscape we age within? In western societies, we tend to think firstly about ageing in relation to physical changes and health/medical needs. While we rely on our bodies, isn’t this limiting? Does it mean we miss out on opportunities that ageing brings with it and does it stop us from considering the other things about our ‘culture’? What about the policies that affect us as we age? Do they help or hinder us? Why are many older people living in poverty for example? Anne Karpf raises these questions in How to Age?

These are the sort of questions our Engage programme looks at through our courses and workshops promoting personal development, community collaboration and active citizenship.  Take a look at what we offer here.

For Individuals

Changing Gears

Changing Gears is an in-person course that supports people in dealing with transitions or significant life-challenges in mid to later life. It focuses on how we can build resilience, take stock, make changes, and bounce forward in life. It runs over 5 weeks with 2.5 hour sessions on the same day each week.

Watch out for Changing Gears coming to a venue near you, we run it nationwide and attendance is free on HSE funded courses. Courses are coming up in Lucan, Dublin and Ennis, Co Clare this Autumn.

For Groups

Ageing with Confidence

Ageing is much more about attitude than a number. A positive attitude is a great help for confidence and morale as we age.  This in-person course is holistic in its focus on different aspects of the self (body, mind, imagination, intuition, will).  Using music, movement, visual art and story, as well as personal reflection and sharing, sessions are designed to be as interactive and enjoyable as possible. Topics include: Creative ageing; Body/Mind (the Physical & Psychological self); Confidence, Resilience and Self-belief; Managing Stress; the Social and Spiritual self. It runs over 5 weeks with 2.5 hour sessions on the same day each week.

Get Engaged

Are you in a group, or running a group, that would like to start a community project or initiative and acquire new skills at the same time?

Get Engaged is a course aimed at developing the skills and knowledge of people (aged 50+) who wish to play an active part in their communities and challenge ageism by highlighting the contributions older people make to society. It invites participants to work together on collective activities or creative initiatives, which address specific needs and strengthen participation in their local community. It suits those who have a community issue or project they would like to address and for groups that don’t, the course helps to identify one they may wish to start. Perhaps climate change and tackling that in your community is something you, or your group, are interested in?

For Groups and for Organisations/Employers

AgeWise

Are you a group or an organisation keen to promote positive ageing and increase awareness of attitudes to ageing? AgeWise is a facilitated workshop of 1.5/2 hours, designed to raise awareness of attitudes to ageing and older people in the workplace and wider society. It is suitable for older persons’ groups and community, parish or library groups who are interested in promoting and learning about positive ageing.

It would also suit organisations/employers:

• who are interested in promoting and learning about positive ageing
• whose work affects the lives of older people, in particular employers and people delivering services to older people, or coming into contact with older people on a regular basis.

For more information and costs regarding any of the above please contact Fiona Holohan, Engage Programme Coordinator on Fiona.holohan@ageandopportunity.ie or tel (01) 913 392.

In his memoir, Joe Schmidt – the former coach of Ireland men’s rugby team – opens a chapter on Mindset with the following remarks: ‘Viktor Frankl said that “Between stimulus and response, there is a space”, and in that space, we have the power of choice. In other words, much of what happens in life might be beyond our control, but our reaction to it determines how it impacts upon us. A positive mindset is a good starting point when you’re in that ‘space’ and about to respond to a difficult situation.’

In managing change, attitude or mindset, is key. For Schmidt, as for Victor Frankl, there is always an element of choice. No matter how difficult the circumstances, we can always choose our attitude. It is not surprising then that Paul O’Connell, the Munster and Ireland rugby captain, wrote in his memoir The Battle: ‘One of the first things I took from Joe Schmidt was that he saw it as his job to make sure players turned up with the right attitude. One of the first points he made to us in camp was ‘Win the moment in front of your face.’ I wrote it down in my notebook. He’d meant it in a rugby context – don’t worry about what happened five minutes ago, just focus on your next job; win that moment and move on to the next one with the right attitude. It struck a chord with me and I realised I could apply it to every part of my preparation for rugby. It was a simple idea and I find it helpful in getting myself right.’

Speaking at the recent Bealtaine event, Invisibility: The New Superpower, writer Anne Griffin had her own version of ‘Win the moment in front of your face’. Her mantra for managing a challenging health condition was ‘Just do this one thing’. Repeating the phrase aloud to herself, she told the audience, facilitated a more positive mindset. It enabled her to focus on the task at hand, or the ‘next job’, as Paul O’Connell put it, taking things one step at a time.

Attitude, mindset, focus are all vital elements in managing change. Only dig deeper and you realise, when it comes to attitude or mindset having a sense of purpose helps. As Rose Anne Kenny, the founding Principal Investigator of TILDA (the Irish Longitudinal Study of Ageing) expressed it, ‘Having purpose is a psychological strength.’ Here purpose can be linked with will, in the context of the old maxim, ‘Where there’s a will, there’s a way.’ If we are really determined to do something, we can find a way to accomplish it, particularly in the face of difficulties, obstacles or adversity. Purpose, you might say, fortifies attitude. It fuels our resolve, our determination to keep going, or – in Brendan Kennelly’s words – to ‘begin again’: ‘Though we live in a world that dreams of ending / that always seems about to give in / Something that will not acknowledge conclusion / insists that we forever begin.’

What is this something that defies conclusion, that insists ‘we forever begin’ (to adapt Kennelly’s poem)? Or, alternatively, what is this ‘something inside so strong’, to echo Labi Siffre’s celebrated song? How I answer the question may offer a clue as to what tips are most helpful for me in managing change. Perhaps the most useful are those that activate my will, trigger my sense of purpose. For instance, If service in the community matters, I can become a volunteer. If a sense of belonging helps, I can join a choir, club or group that engages my hobbies or interests (music, dance, singing, drama, hill-walking, swimming). If spirituality or faith is important to me, I can draw from that well. If love of nature sustains, I can spend time outdoors. Often small actions have unforeseen effects, just as one slight shift of a kaleidoscope can alter the whole pattern.

When it comes to attitude, mindset, purpose, will, it could be said that the biggest influencers are our habits, routines and daily practices. As one motivational poster stated: ‘You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of success is found in your daily routine.’ It’s not the one-off insight but the habitual practice that makes all the difference. The challenge then is self-awareness, knowing when it is time to readjust, make a change, adopt a new habit. As Portia Nelson expressed it in her wonderful poem, ‘Autobiography in Five Short Chapters’:

Chapter One

I walk down the street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I fall in.

I am lost…I am helpless.

It isn’t my fault.

It takes forever to find a way out.

Chapter Two.

I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I pretend I don’t see it.

I fall in again.

I can’t believe I’m in the same place.

But it isn’t my fault.

It still takes a long time to get out.

Chapter Three.

I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I see it is there.

I fall in…it’s a habit…but my eyes are open.

I know where I am.

It is my fault.

I get out immediately.

Chapter Four.

I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I walk around it.

Chapter Five.

I walk down a different street.

We are looking for an energetic and experienced Communications Manager on a part-time basis for a 12-month maternity leave cover.

The main responsibilities are the management of Age & Opportunity’s day-to-day communications activities. There is also responsibility for end-to-end project management of one-off communications initiatives or campaigns.

The primary task is to promote awareness and build understanding of Age & Opportunity among our key target audiences who include older people, funders, programme partners, the local community, policymakers, the press and others operating in the ageing sector.

The successful candidate will need to demonstrate a track record (minimum 3 years) of working in a management role in communications and marketing. This will include experience of planning and generating high quality content of all kinds, designing and implementing campaigns, positioning and brand management, managing agencies and supplies and social media.

The role also requires excellent writing, organisational and project management skills, and a natural flair for building relationships with Age & Opportunity’s internal team and with our external audiences and stakeholders.

This a part-time role for 15 hours per week (based on a 37.5 hr week) with a salary of €50,000 pro-rata. The contract is a 12-month specified purpose to provide maternity cover. Estimated start date will be late August / early September 2025.

• View the job description here.
• View the person specification here.

Shortlisting will apply based on the criteria outlined.

Please send your CV and cover letter to: Audrey Farrell, HR Executive, Age & Opportunity at  jobs@ageandopportunity.ie by 12 noon on Monday 26^th May 2025.

Interviews will be held in person in Dublin on Thursday 12^th June 2025.

Age & Opportunity is an Equal Opportunities Employer.

Age & Opportunity announces grants of €300,000 to promote physical activity among older people

• Funds support diverse activities nationwide – including pickleball, kurling, tai chi and aqua aerobics
• Just under €8 million awarded to date by the Age & Opportunity Active National Grant Scheme
• 988 grants allocated this year

Age & Opportunity is today marking the distribution of its Active National Grant that provides significant funding for sport and physical activity amongst older people.

The Grant Scheme is a combined initiative from Age & Opportunity and Sport Ireland with funding provided by the Government of Ireland. This year it is providing €300,000 to support sport and physical activities run by 988 groups and organisations. These range from Active Retirement Groups, ICAs, Men’s/Women’s Sheds, Physical Activity Leaders (PALs), care settings and other sports and social groups. 

Minister for Arts, Culture, Communications, Media and Sport, Patrick O’Donovan said: “As outlined in the Programme for Government and the National Sports Policy 2018-2027, increased participation in sport by all is a key objective for this Government. As such, we are committed to a Sport for All approach aimed at ensuring that all persons have the opportunity to partake equally in sport and physical activity, regardless of age or social-economic status.  

The funding provided through the Age & Opportunity Active National Grant Scheme will support sporting organisations in putting programmes in place designed to increase participation in recreational sports by older people and so gain significant physical and mental health benefits.”

Minister of State for Sport and Postal Policy, Charlie McConalogue said: “This initiative by Age & Opportunity and Sport Ireland offers financial supports to local clubs, groups and organisations, nationwide who promote increased participation in recreational sport or physical activity for older people. The continued collaboration between Sport Ireland and such organisations plays a vital part in the Department’s ongoing commitment to create opportunities in people’s everyday lives to exercise more.”

By financially supporting organisations to buy equipment and host activities specifically designed for older people, the grant helps older people reap the health benefits of being active. Pickleball and Walking Football continue to grow in popularity and are named in over 40 applications.

Sport Ireland CEO, Dr Úna May said: “Being active is the key to healthy aging, and this funding is vital in building an Ireland where older adults have more opportunities to stay active and socially connected. 

“Sport Ireland’s Local Sports Partnerships do tremendous work in encouraging people to get involved in physical activity as a means of promoting a healthy lifestyle – and the Age & Opportunity Active National Grant Scheme will allow them to continue to work in that area. 

“We know from the Irish Sport Monitor report that participation levels among older people are on the rise so it’s important that there are opportunities for people over the age of 50 to be involved in a variety of sports. It makes a real difference in our communities.”

Sue Guildea, Active Programme Manager, Age & Opportunity welcomed the ongoing partnership with Sport Ireland. 

 “I would like to thank Sport Ireland for their continued support and commitment. I am especially happy to share that this year, 340 successful applications have come from designated disadvantaged areas. Another 80 applications have been awarded to care settings, many of whom have CarePALs, who are staff or volunteers who have completed training with us to help support them to increase the levels of physical activity of those in their care. The importance of meaningful activities in these environments cannot be overstated. 

“While we celebrate the progress made, there is always more to be done. Our commitment to advocating for policies and initiatives that empower older people remains steadfast.”

 Of today’s funding allocations, grants were awarded to 188 Irish Countrywomen’s Association Guilds, 243 Active Retirement Groups, 64 Men’s sheds and 30 Women’s sheds, 81 care settings and many more groups.

Every year approximately 32,000 older people take part in physical activity funded by the Grant Scheme. Activities funded include pickleball, aqua aerobics, rowing, dancing, cycling, bowling, self-defence, walking hockey, tai chi, walking, weight-lifting and so many more.

For a snapshot of the Age & Opportunity Active National Grant Scheme’s impact on people’s health and well-being watch our video here from 2023.

A full list of this year’s successful applicants can be found here: Age & Opportunity Active National Grant Scheme 2025 – Successful Applicants

The Grant Scheme is part of Age & Opportunity’s Active programme, funded by Sport Ireland, and delivered nationwide with the support of the HSE and Local Sports Partnerships.

Response to the Programme for Government 2025 – pdf

Age & Opportunity welcomes the recent publication of the Programme for Government and the commitments it contains in relation to ageing and older people.

We look forward to collaborating with members of the 34^th Dail, 27^th Seanad and stakeholders across the Public Service to ensure these commitments translate into meaningful actions.

We are pleased to note the overarching focus on future planning towards ‘Securing Ireland’s Future’ with the specific commitment to establish a new Unit for Future Planning. With the number of people in Ireland aged 65 years set to reach over 1 million by the end of this government’s term, it is timely to consider the needs of all generations and ensure a secure and fulfilling future for every citizen.

In this regard, however, we are dismayed that, despite Fine Gael’s clear commitment in their election manifesto to ‘Appoint a Commissioner for Positive Ageing’ it is not mentioned anywhere in this Programme for Government. We understand, following our enquiries, that the negotiating team decided to wait on the outcome of the report on the Commission on Care for Older People.

We welcomed the establishment of the Commission on Care last year and are also happy to be part of the NGO Reference Group informing its work. However, we believe that while the Commission on Care has an important role in examining the care and support needs of older people, there is a further need for an Independent Commissioner on Ageing and Older People to expand the narrative about ageing beyond health and care, tackle institutional ageism, and support the full diversity of older people in Ireland to realise all our rights in relation to full participation in society. This case was very clearly made by us and our colleagues in the Alliance of Age Sector NGOs in advance of this election, and indeed the previous election in 2020, and it is deeply disappointing that it has again been denied.

The Alliance of Age Sector NGOs also campaigned for a dedicated Minister for Older People to ensure a proactive and multi-dimensional approach to ageing policy. Age & Opportunity have furthermore and consistently argued that taking this portfolio out of health where it is reactive and based on a deficit narrative would put it into a more positive, proactive and multi-dimensioned space. We are again disappointed that this portfolio has not been allocated as the sole responsibility of one Minister and that the Programme for Government remains focused on care rather than opportunities for self-fulfillment.

Lack of Visibility

Older people are largely unseen throughout this Programme for Government. There is not one mention of older people throughout the whole section about Investing in our Future. Likewise, there is no specific reference to older people throughout the section on Education and – somewhat surprisingly given the decision to retain the Minister for Older People in the Department of Health – there is actually no specific reference to older people throughout the comprehensive section on Building a Healthier Future.

There is no commitment to implement or relaunch the National Positive Ageing Strategy which is not referenced anywhere in the document.

While we welcome the commitment to Thriving Communities, we note that older people are missing from the mission to ‘ensure local communities are supported to make their town, village and parish thriving places to live, work and raise a family’. Not only does this beg the question about how and where we are expected to grow old, it also ignores the capacity and potential of older people to contribute to and be agents of change within their communities.

Thriving Communities

On a more positive note in relation to thriving communities we do acknowledge the specific commitments to expand Local Link Services in rural areas, work with the National Transport Authority to allow flexible pickups on Local Link and other bus routes in rural communities, as appropriate, enhancing service accessibility and work to integrate Local Link transport routes with health services to improve access for individuals seeking care. All of these actions, along with the commitment to consult with older people in relation to dedicated infrastructure for active travel and promote a universal design approach in active travel projects will make a difference in relation to ageing in place and promoting social inclusion.

As an organisation promoting participation, we are very aware that social inclusion is also about belonging to the communities created by social and cultural events. Year on year, participants in Age & Opportunity’s arts, sports, physical activity and lifelong learning initiatives report feeling more connected to their communities as a result of participation in these initiatives. While we very much welcome the renewed commitment to our Active Programme (Go for Life) and the inclusion of older people in the realm of sport and physical activity, we would like to see this reflected also in relation to participation in arts and culture and education and lifelong learning.

We welcome the continued support for community groups and increased investment in community facilities. Older people are both contributors to and beneficiaries of community initiatives and we look forward also to the new Volunteering Strategy and greater visibility and acknowledgement of the contribution that older people make to their communities. We also recognise the commitment to implement an e-Inclusion Strategy to ensure no one is left behind by the move to a digital society.

A Caring Society

We welcome the high-level commitment to a caring society with reference to the ongoing implementation of Sláintecare and specific actions to ensure accessible, affordable, and high-quality healthcare for all. While we look forward to full implementation of the national

Mental Health Policy as promised, we are disappointed that this Programme for Government rows back on previous commitments to develop an implementation plan to deliver on the objectives of tackling loneliness and isolation.

We applaud the pledge to advance the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Optional Protocol to the Convention of Persons with Disabilities as well as the undertaking to provide a step change in the supports and services required by people with disabilities. We trust that these actions will address current discriminations in policy and practice which allow those who age with or into disability to be treated differently when they are over 65.

Poverty and Social Exclusion

Poverty is a key driver of social exclusion. Age & Opportunity support all actions to reduce poverty among older people. This includes realising the commitment to benchmark State Pension payments and supporting older persons to extend their working lives if they choose to do so. It also includes providing cost-of-living and other supports to enable people as they age to enjoy an acceptable standard of living which includes social participation.

This Programme for Government rows back on the undelivered promise of the last government to benchmark State Pension payments. Instead, it includes a vague and discretionary undertaking to progressively increase the weekly state pension payment. For those who wish to work into older age, the Programme makes no reference to older people in relation to upskilling or to tackling workplace discrimination in relation to pay and age.

Ageing in Place

We welcome the government’s pledge to deliver 300,000 new homes by 2030, including provisions for social and affordable housing. Likewise, we welcome the commitment to advance practical housing options for positive ageing and ensure all retrofitting grants and schemes are accessible to older people. The inclusion of wraparound services from home and community care to repair services and meals on wheels are also to be welcomed.

However, we note that there appears to be a rowback from the last Programme for Government which promised to introduce a statutory homecare scheme to the current Programme which promises only to design a scheme. At the same time the Programme includes a distinct focus on growing the nursing home sector. As most older people wish to remain at home for as long as possible, we would expect a more prominent commitment to ageing in place from this Government.

Conclusion

Age & Opportunity welcomes many of the commitments in the Programme for Government 2025 and we can see potential for positive change. But in order to address the needs of our ageing population, we believe that a more ambitious whole of government approach to progressive policy and its effective implementation is required.

Securing Ireland’s Future means enabling the best possible quality of life for all of us as we age. We welcome this Programme for Government as ‘the bare bones’ of what is needed in order to ensure that all older adults are enabled to be more active, more visible, more creative, more connected and more confident about ageing. We look forward to working with policymakers to put meat on these bones and really make a difference to current and future generations of older people in Ireland.

END
Mary Harkin
Policy, Research and EvaluaƟon Manager
Age & Opportunity
February 2025
Mary.harkin@ageandopportunity.ie

Age & Opportunity Response to Programme for Government

Bealtaine Festival, Ireland’s national celebration of arts and creativity as we age, is set to make its highly anticipated return this May, marking a milestone 30th anniversary. An Age & Opportunity initiative, the festival invites arts organisations of all kinds to take part by organising events that capture the evolving, playful, and dynamic spirit of Bealtaine. 

Bealtaine Festival is calling on organisations nationwide, big and small, to get involved by planning and registering events in their local areas in May 2025. From music and choral performances to visual arts, theatre, writing workshops, dance, literature, circus, film screenings, storytelling, and more, the programme is open to a wide range of creative expressions. As Bealtaine celebrates three decades this year, event organisers are encouraged to reflect on past festivals or look ahead to the future of Bealtaine and how it continues to inspire. 

Celebrating 30 years, Bealtaine Festival is set to host a Big Birthday Tea Party on Sunday, 4th May. Local organisers are invited to join in the celebration by hosting their own tea parties with their communities throughout the month of May, whether it’s a family gathering, an indoor tea dance, or something completely unique. 

Continuing the festival’s three-year theme, ‘Lust for Life’, Age & Opportunity encourages event organisers to consider the theme’s relevance and the wide-ranging experiences of Bealtaine’s audiences when planning their events. 

This year, the festival will also take a moment to honour the many hundreds of events that have taken place in communities across Ireland since its inception in 1995. Event organisers are invited to share archive photos or videos showcasing the creativity and diversity of past Bealtaine events, which will be featured across the festival’s social media channels in the lead-up to May. 

Dr. Tara Byrne, Arts Programme Manager says: “More than ever, in 2025, I hope Bealtaine’s 30th anniversary celebrations will be the catalyst to more of us over 50 finding community and expression through brilliant and challenging arts events.” 

How to get involved in Bealtaine 2025: 

• Organisations are encouraged to incorporate the 2025 festival theme ‘Lust for Life’. Once the event is ready for promotion, it can be registered on the Bealtaine website.  

• Dawn Chorus – organise a Dawn or Dusk chorus with your local choir.  

• Tea Party – organise a Bealtaine Birthday Tea Party. 

• Have images of past Bealtaine events to share? Get in touch at arts@ageandopportunity.ie  

• Attend Bealtaine events locally or at the Festival HQ. 

Bealtaine Festival is an initiative by Age & Opportunity, funded by The Arts Council and the HSE. Bealtaine is a pioneering national arts festival that fosters creativity among older people across Ireland through intergenerational collaboration, showcasing older artists, and promoting skills and experiences that can lead to a rich, creative life.  

Registration is open from February right through the month of May. Queries regarding the online registration process or the festival in general, can be sent to the Age & Opportunity Arts Administrator on arts@ageandopportunity.ie. 

Age & Opportunity invites tender submissions from interested Auditing Services Suppliers to provide internal auditing from the 1^st of June 2025.

Details of the tender are set out in this document which is comprised of four parts:  Invitation to Tender for Internal Audit Services

• Part 1: Background information
• Part 2: Age & Opportunity’s requirements and other considerations
• Part 3: Tender process
• Part 4: General tender information, terms and conditions

Interested Internal Auditing Services Suppliers should submit a proposal by email to:

Karen Horgan, CEO, at Karen.horgan@ageandopportunity.ie by 12 noon on Friday the 31^st of January 2025.

Why are attitudes to ageing so conflicted? At what point does negativity take hold? Is ageism worse for women than men? What can be done to stop the vicious cycle and spread some good news for a change? These are some of the questions addressed in our Reflection on Ageing and Ageism.

somewhere and sometime

a mouse and a cat

used to eat from one bowl

it would’ve lasted till today

if the cat hadn’t been told

that mice are edible.

I came across this poem some years ago and asked people to suggest a title for it. I got some noteworthy replies, such as ‘Food for Thought’, ‘Influence’, ‘Migrants’ and ‘A Little Knowledge is a Dangerous Thing.’  The original title the Polish poet, Marek Czuku, chose was ‘Politics’, which is intriguing because if you substitute ‘young’ and ‘old’ for ‘cat’ and ‘mouse’, and play around with the poem a little, you get an interesting angle on intergenerational politics:

somewhere and sometime

young and old

used to work and play together

it would’ve lasted till today

if the young hadn’t been told

that ageing is negative.

At what stage in our lives did we pick up the message that ageing is bad? Associated with deficit, deficiency, diminishment, decline? Or loss of youth, agency, vigour, agility, mobility, attractiveness? The answer, by all accounts, is very early in childhood. Why? Because society is casually and insidiously ageist. It buys into and promotes an array of self-limiting beliefs. As Ayalon & Tesch-Römer (2018) defined it, ageism is ‘the complex, often negative construction of old age, which takes place at the individual and societal levels.’ Or, as the World Health Organisation noted, ageism ‘refers to the stereotypes (how we think), prejudice (how we feel), and discrimination (how we act) directed towards people on the basis of their age’. Taken together, both definitions remind us that ageism is engrained in our institutions and in ourselves, consciously and unconsciously. It is personal (affecting thoughts, feelings, actions and relationships) and systemic (shaping guidelines, policies, laws).

In many respects ageism is a numbers game, a legacy of patriarchy with its compulsion to categorize human beings by age, sex, race, ethnicity, class. Ageing – a lifelong process – is reduced to a number, which operates more like a barrier, a limit or a label. This serves neither young or old because, as Anna Karpf noted, ‘The denigration of age is built upon the idealisation of youth, and both do violence to reality. Being young is rarely as unconflicted, nor old as wretched, as the stereotypes would have us believe.’ A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

Stereotypes (mental representations or pictures in the mind) which are out of date and don’t fit anymore do violence to reality. Ageing is fluid, not fixed; dynamic, not static; diverse, not homogeneous. Like other complex, evolving processes, it does not lend itself to stereotypes. Thus, when it comes to ageing, language with its preference for binary oppositions (like young / old) is at a loss. It often polarizes rather than reflects the more complex truth, thereby enforcing structural ageism.

There is no one-size-fits-all model for human ageing. Segmenting our lifespan into sections is not particularly helpful. It takes no account of the marked variation between biological and chronological age. Or the fact that ageing is much more an attitude than a number. The politics of ageing is not a binary (‘young’ / old’) but a spectrum (with a range of different possibilities). People today enjoy opportunities denied to previous generations, not least in terms of longevity.

So why do we find it so difficult to reflect ageing as it is now, as well as to re-imagine ageing as it could be tomorrow? The answer to some extent lies within, in the internalised ageism we have picked up from childhood; the messages or self-limiting beliefs which have become more and more entrenched over time. The language we use highlights a failure of imagination. Here I’m reminded of the lines from Harry Chapin’s song: ‘Flowers are red, and green leaves are green / There’s no need to see them any other way / Than the way they always have been seen.’ Learned assumptions are deep-rooted and hard to shift. Which is what makes ageism so pervasive and pernicious at once. How easily we discriminate against ourselves and others with remarks like ‘I’m too old for this’, ‘She’s too old for that.’ As Ashton Applewhite expressed it, ‘It is ageism, for more than the passage of time, that makes growing older harder for all of us.’

It has been argued that ageism disproportionately affects women because it intersects and exacerbates sexism, another deeply embedded form of prejudice in society. As Carrie Fisher noted, ‘Men don’t age better than women, they’re just allowed to.’ This is particularly evident in the media. Witness the case of television presenter Miriam O’Reilly who won her case   against the BBC in 2011 on the grounds of age discrimination. As she pointed out, there was ‘one rule for men’ on whom ageing bestowed gravitas and another for women forced to make changes to their appearance in order to look ‘the right age’ for a job. Or, as Radio 4 presenter Libby Purves expressed it (after her show Midweek was axed in 2017): ‘Does the BBC have a problem with older women? Are we written off as old trouts while men become revered elders, sacred patriarchs, silver foxes?’ Gendered ageism it seems is a double whammy for women, professional or otherwise, as age is used to justify all manner of bias and discrimination. As Czuku’s poem might say:

somewhere and sometime

a woman and a man

used to present on tv

it would’ve lasted till today

if the woman hadn’t been told

she was not ‘the right age’.

So what can we do to combat ageism? A few suggestions, with a little help from the poets:

1. Make your own music.

Find your own positive message for ageing (‘I’m still me’. ‘Ageing is living.’ ‘Age is more an attitude than a number.’) and share it. Dance to the beat of your own drum.
As Brendan Kennelly expressed it in relation to his father: ‘You made your own music / Always in tune with yourself.’

2. Debunk the Myths.

There is no ‘right age’ or ‘right time’ for anything. We are never too old to learn, acquire new skills, pursue different hobbies or interests. Ageing enriches not diminishes us. As Maya Angelou might say, ‘Shadows on the wall / Noises down the hall / Ageing doesn’t frighten me at all.’

3. Rise to the challenge.

If ageing is living and living is ageing, there will always be challenges. Be undaunted. Stay connected. Resilience keeps us going. It is a creative force within. As Dylan Thomas exclaimed: ‘The force that through the green fuse drives the flower / Drives my green age.’

4. Get Engaged, Be Amazed.

Mary Oliver concludes her poem, ‘When Death Comes’, with these words: ‘When it’s over, I want to say: all my life / I was a bride married to amazement…When it’s over… / I don’t want to find myself sighing and frightened, / or full of argument. I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world.’

Ageing, for her, is an opportunity not just to visit the world but to savour it, cherish it, make the most of it. A call to Get Engaged, Be Amazed.

Invitiation to tender for two years.

Social Media and PR Support for Bealtaine Festival 2025 and 2026 – Tender Outline

We are seeking tenders from suitably qualified individuals or organisations to provide social media and PR support for Bealtaine Festival 2025 and 2026, including planning, creation and scheduling of different types of content across all social channels through our Hootsuite platform, and monitoring, reacting and engaging with comments online. We will be doing some of the social media work ourselves. The individual or organisation will also provide support in creation of press releases and pitching stories to media outlets and their own contacts.

Details of the tender are set out in this document, which is comprised of four parts:  Social Media & PR Support Bealtaine 2025 and 2026

• Part 1: Background information
• Part 2: Age & Opportunity’s requirements and other considerations
• Part 3: Tender process
• Part 4: General tender information, terms and conditions

Interested parties should submit a proposal by email to Melissa Byrne, Communications Manager, at melissa.byrne@ageandopportunity.ie by 5pm, Wednesday 13^th November 2024.

Graphic Design for Bealtaine Festival 2025 and 2026 – Tender Outline

We are seeking tenders from suitably qualified individuals or organisations to provide graphic design support for Bealtaine Festival 2025 and 2026. This will include the creation of a suite of materials for the website and social channels, and design of the printed programme. This will be confirmed in early January 2025 and early January 2026.

2025 is the 30th anniversary of Bealtaine Festival and will be a very special celebration of the festival.

Details of the tender are set out in this document, which is comprised of four parts: Graphic Design for Bealtaine Festival 2025 and 2026

• Part 1: Background information
• Part 2: Age & Opportunity’s requirements and other considerations
• Part 3: Tender process
• Part 4: General tender information, terms and conditions

Interested parties should submit a proposal by email to Melissa Byrne, Communications Manager, at melissa.byrne@ageandopportunity.ie by 5pm, Wednesday 13^th November 2024.