WICKED HUMOUR ON WINTERY BOORA BOG WALK

BY RAY LUCEY

BY NOREEN BYRNE

Older people should pull the plug on 24/7 news, believes Dr Noreen Byrne of UCC's Centre for Co-operative Studies. Her academic interests include place-based development and, since the pandemic, she feels senior citizens are being robbed of the latter part of their lives.

• Offaly people at a coffee morning held as part of Social Inclusion Week 2022.

Re-opening

after Covid has been slow for some and development workers have focused on reconnecting people.

On the Boora bog walk (see opposite page) community workers Declan and Louise made sure that people could walk at their own pace so they could chat as they went.

“However, it was when everyone sat down for tea, coffee and scones afterwards that people really got chatting,” said Louise.

After walking 5k across a bog on a cold day, everyone has something to talk about.

“But it took the walk to bring people together in the first place,” she pointed out.

“These are the kind of things we do to get people to socialise. We’ve learned to use occasions such as Social Inclusion Week, International Women’s Day, Men’s Day, Bealtaine in May, and so on, to get people together. We’ve had great success doing it that way.”

Declan describes a storytelling day they helped to organise as part of the Bealtaine Festival in May.

“The stories they told were jawdroppers. It was one of the best days I ever put down in twenty years of being a community worker,” he said. Storytelling online workshops during lockdowns in 2020 led to a book being published and another is on the way.

Reporter Ray Lucey filed a report (on our website) about the launch of ‘The Way We Were’, and early next year a book written by former Bord na Móna workers will be launched. These initiatives involved multiple agencies working together.

Older people like to listen to the news. They get up early in the morning, turn on the radio for the morning news and then might hear it on the hour, every hour all day, or at least at the staple times of 9am, noon, 6pm and again at 9pm. That’s a lot of news and often bad news.

Perhaps its ok, if in between listening to the news, you are out and about. But during Covid, the elderly were confined to their homes, with constant warnings of Covid booming from the radio and TV.

If they decided to tune into the internet for some relief from it all, there was usually a conspiracy theory that caused more stress and noise.

Now that the media have moved on from Covid, the elderly news listener, often at home now since Covid, is listening to the increasing likelihood of Third World or Nuclear War.

If this does not depress them enough, there are the dire warnings (justified yes) of increasing energy and food costs. And of course as we head into winter, Covid will rear its head as a filler on those slow news days. And if one is still not depressed enough, tuning into midday talk radio shows or TV chat shows, with numerous stories of personal tragedy should do the job.

I have an overwhelming feeling that we are robbing this wise generation of the latter part of their lives. Perhaps, its time for a grey rebellion which starts with turning off the radio (apart from perhaps John Creedon in the evening, or a historical documentary. Or maybe tune into community radio or an interesting podcast), but for the rest of the time, just unplug it and let the world do what it wishes.

Maybe the real news and stuff of life is just outside our door, in the living world all around us. Community groups across the country are eagerly calling us to take that step and make that reconnection.

Maybe to hear that call, we need to first turn off the constant stream of news. John Moriarty, an Irish philosopher, believed that there is an ancient wisdom in us all and that the world, much of education and the news (he particular singled out the news, although he may have made an exception for 'Changing Ireland') keeps that wisdom supressed. He advocated an open relationship with ourselves, other people, the place we live in and nature to allow that wisdom to emerge.

Wonderful Lough Boora

Discovery Park in County

Offaly on a cool International Men’s Day, November 19th, was where a friendly gathering of 21 walkers met and forged connections, reacquainted or simply chatted. The atmosphere and banter was infectious, like everybody knew each other, even if not. And thankfully the rain cleared.

Walkers Michael and Jane Lowe from Kilcormac said, “It means a lot to us to get out walking, especially at our age, and it’s good for our health.”

Walker Philomena Hennessy said the 5km walk was “thoroughly enjoyable”. "Boora is perfect for walking,” she added. Asked about the walk being held on International Men’s Day, she replied wickedly, “Sure, every day is a man’s day.”

Louise Larkin of Offaly Local Development Company (OLDC) felt that the walk was a real success as “people got an opportunity to connect with themselves, others and the natural environment. Through these connections they enhanced their wellbeing and supported each other.”

Declan Costello, also of OLDC, said the walk was one of a series of walking events organised through the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP).

“Post-Covid 19, it is really important to engage with people who were socially isolated during that time and still are. The main reason for these walks is to reach out to socially isolated older people. They are an emerging needs group.”

Opposite page - read about the lingering impact of Covid lockdowns on older people and what is being done to help people emerge from isolation.