ALONE calls on local election candidates across Ireland to take action for the 1.04 million people aged 60+ across the county

ALONE is calling on local election candidates across Ireland to take action for the 1,048,985 people aged 60+ across the county. Currently, there are over 0.8 million people aged 65 and above in Ireland, a number projected to double by 2050, constituting more than a quarter of the total population.

ALONE, a national organisation that enables older people to live at home, wants local election candidates to transform communities for an ageing population. ALONE is calling on candidates to commit to action on the three areas of Housing, Loneliness and Access to Services.

“We are calling on all Local Election candidates to commit to making Ireland a positive place to grow old,” said ALONE CEO Seán Moynihan. “Our population is ageing and the people of Ireland need political leaders who will work for and with them to ensure it is a positive place to live for all older people. Candidates who are not prioritising older people are leaving a large number of their constituents off their agenda.”

1. Regarding Housing, ALONE is seeing more and more older people in the private rental sector, on social housing lists and at risk of homelessness. We are asking all local election candidates to identify and plan for the broad spectrum of housing needs of older people; and develop targets and measure delivery of housing for older people as part of local housing plans. Included in this is the need for additional funding and support for housing adaptation grants delivered by Local Authorities.

2. Ireland is the loneliest country in Europe according to EU Commission research. ALONE’s request is for local election candidates is to develop a local plan aimed at addressing loneliness across the life course, support initiatives aimed at reducing loneliness and develop a public awareness campaign that highlights loneliness and social isolation, to support and enable the community togetherness and social connection which is so vital at local level.

3. In relation to Access to Services, ALONE sees many people unable to access essential supports and grants due to excessive bureaucracy and asks that all written materials, forms, and services provided by the Local Authority are provided in an accessible format to all older people, regardless of their digital access or literacy status.

ALONE has been campaigning for change since it was founded over 40 years ago. Since ALONE was founded, we have seen the population of those aged 65+ in Ireland more than double. The rate of increase is happening at a faster rate now than ever before. Ireland has an ageing population and it needs Government, especially local government, to plan for this.

The problems we are seeing now in housing and loneliness to name some are only going to get bigger until real actions take place at local level across the country. All counties recorded an increase in average age between 2016 and 2022 according to the CSO.