On the Road Again!

For the last two months Older & Bolder has been enjoying an interesting conversation, one that has taken us all the way from Letterkenny to Waterford …
We have been revisiting old friends and travelling to new towns and cities, meeting with older people around the country to discuss the policies which will affect the daily lives of older people and shape the kind of society we live in.  2010 is a year of important decisions! 
We have been discussing the National Positive Ageing Strategy, now at a crucial stage with official consultations taking place in a number of locations and a report from the Minister due in the next few months.  We have also been hearing different experiences and perspectives on retirement and pensions – with the recently publication of a National Pensions Framework designed to look at long term planning and reform of the National Pensions System it is crucial that older peoples voices and expertise should guide any policy change in this important area.    
There are two more local meetings planned, one on June 22nd in the Brandon Hotel, Tralee  and one on June 28th in White’s Hotel, Wexford and we are hoping for a great turn out at both.
We look forward to further strengthening public debate by gathering together all the messages that are emerging from these meetings into a written report in the Autumn.
The outcomes of our last round of consultations in 2008 and 2009 were previously collected into a report called ‘What does Positive Ageing Mean to Older People’, based on meetings attended by six hundred and sixty older people in Cork, Dublin, Limerick, Sligo, Tralee, Trim, Tullamore and Wexford.