AN attempt to open up the "taboo" subject of death and dying is to be made this year by Age Action Ireland.
The organisation has won financial backing from the European Commission and the Eastern Health Board for the move and is advertising for a project worker in "life and death education".
Fear of death creates psychological difficulties for all age groups, traditionally for older adults and carers, but also for younger parents and children who come in contact with death, says Mr Robin Webster, of Age Action Ireland.
"Death and dying is a taboo subject," he says. "We only deal with it when we have personal experience of it.
The project is based on the view that it can be beneficial for people to consider death and dying in the absence of an immediate bereavement or immediate fear of one's own death. It will include public education programmes in urban and rural areas and training programmes for people working in health and education.
It aims to help individuals, families and communities to manage loss, especially that associated with illness, so that they can more fully participate in active living, said Mr Webster.
Experimental one day sessions in Dublin and in Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan, have been very successful, with 50 people attending a public day of workshops and discussions in Carrickmacross.
A day of workshops in Dublin was attended by professionals from the health services and by representatives of the Irish Association of Funeral Directors.
One of the attractions of the project for Age Action Ireland is that it involves issues which affect people of all ages. "We want to tackle projects where older people are sharing issues with younger people," said Mr Webster. "Older people haven't got a monopoly on death."