Introduction
5. Social aspects of retirement
Retirement brings about great change in one’s life, most obviously presenting the possibility of greatly increased leisure time. The potential activities available are considerable. These could include:
Life long learning
Age Action Ireland (www.ageaction.ie) is Ireland’s only independent national network on ageing and older people in Ireland. Age Action has established University of the Third Age (U3A), which is the first national programme aimed at developing educational opportunities for older people.
According to the Age Action website, U3A is: “(the) University in this context refers to learning for life --the University of Life as a catalyst for personal development, skill sharing, creativity, and fun. The third age refers to that period of life when individuals are no longer involved in full-time care and parental obligations. University refers to learning co-operatives that involve everyone in both learning and organising”.
The activities in which U3A take part vary from computers to complementary health.
The public library network in Ireland has over 338 branch libraries in Ireland. There are a variety of services provided by these libraries and include book and AV lending, Internet access, reference and general information services and local studies services. There are 32 Library Services run in Ireland by local authorities throughout the country. Information and links to each of services can be found on An Chomhairle Leabharlanna’s website (www.librarycouncil.ie)
Active retirement
The Third-Age Summerhill Active Retirement Group is an Active Retirement Group that was initially established in Summerhill Co. Meath in 1987. They have launched a national website (www.thirdage-ireland.com) that contains a web notice board for other groups to post information about up-coming events. It also has details about the Senior Helpline, a helpline for older people run by older people.
Senior Times (www.thirdage.ie) is an online magazine for older people in Ireland. It is presented in a magazine style web-publication and contains a variety of articles on subjects as diverse as fishing to health and beauty.
The Federation of Active Retirement Associations (www.fara.ie) is the co-ordinating body for 300 Active Retirement Associations nationwide whose aim is to generate social, learning and cultural materials for older people. Active Retirement is a self-help movement.
Lobbying Groups
The Irish Senior Citizens Parliament is a lobbying group for older people in Ireland. According to its website, the parliament “is non-party political, non-sectarian and non-profit making. It is an autonomous organisation concerned with promoting the interests of retired and older people”.
The organisation encourages retirement groups to join and has over 80,000 current members. The website (www.seniors.ie) contains information on policies and procedures for joining.
