Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 20 Apr 1999

Vol. 503 No. 3

Written Answers. - UN Year of the Elderly.

Deirdre Clune

Question:

458 Ms Clune asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands the provisions or proposals, if any, she will introduce to mark the UN year of the elderly; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10172/99]

Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands (Miss de Valera)

Dúchas, the Heritage Service of my Department, will undertake a number of initiatives this year in relation to the elderly. These include a lecture, film show, tea and refreshments in Tara, County Meath in July, a special tour for the elderly at Mellifont Abbey, County Louth in August, a week in October for events and activities for the elderly in Glenveagh National Park, County Donegal and, similarly, a week in November in Kilkenny Castle. A designated day for local elderly groups will also take place at Brú na Bóinne, County Meath.

Five elderly groups have also been asked to organise events or activities as part of National Heritage Week in September and elderly groups will be invited to participate in the preparation of an education strategy to encourage access for all to the heritage. A favourable senior citizen rate is also always available at all fee paying heritage sites managed by Dúchas.

The organisation of events by other bodies under the aegis of my Department to mark the UN Year of the Elderly is a matter for those bodies. However, I am aware that the Irish Museum of Modern Art is currently staging an exhibition of artworks created by older people since the Museum opened in 1991. The exhibition under the title "..And Start to Wear Purple" presents artworks from projects organised by the Inchicore Active Retirement Group in conjunction with IMMA and the National Age and Opportunity Agency over the past eight years.

IMMA is also developing a proposal for a group of older people who have worked previously with the museum to select and curate an exhibition of artworks from the museum's collection for the coming Autumn period. Workshops and discussions are currently under way during which older people have direct contact with the artists whose works are in the collection. A research project on lifelong learning is also under way, organised in association with the IMMA, the Victoria and Albert Museum, London and the City of Stockholm Museum. The National Gallery of Ireland has devised a programme of events in May to mark the UN designation which will be entitled "Art Never Ages".