The issues mobilising older women are:
being negatively stereotyped as unattractive and unproductive
excluded from continuing education opportunities poorly represented in the political process
at risk of social isolation due to widowhood and caring for others. (almost one in two women over 65 are widows, and most carers are women, many of them elderly themselves)
being at risk of poverty if unwaged during married life, leading to non-entitlement to a contributory pension
Liz Hayes, a consultant in change management, has been facilitating the development of OWN for a number of years. She says that the group has been working to find a bridge between traditional old peoples' issues such as the provision of services and the newer campaigning role of older women.
"There is also a real issue of the generations. Many older women did what society expected them to do, reared their families, obeyed the church, were denied many opportunities for the sake of the children. Now these children, daughters particularly, are grown up and can have both the career and the family. I think some older women may feel jealous and suppress such feelings. They felt they did the right thing, but may be disappointed now - what was it all about?
"On the other hand, many women are working through to a liberty, a freedom you can get from being older. Of all the groups I work with, OWN is the most fun, with a great energy, a very rich definition of spirituality, an incredible openness and enthusiasm to new ideas."
There is, she suggests, a new script being written for older women. "Older women who have faced the reality of their age have a lot to contribute. They have lived through times of great change, many have coped with loss and vulnerability, they have found a way of making sense of these experiences, and as such they have something to offer to those of us who will listen."
The Older Women's Network holds its first national convention at St Patrick's College Maynooth, Co Kildare, on September 22nd-24th. For further information contact Pauline Hyde/Ann Leahy, Age and Opportunity, Marino Institute of Education, Griffith Avenue, Dublin 9, tel: 01-8370570.