Recent CSO statistics from 2016 show that 41% of people aged between 60 and 74 have never used the internet, which seems shocking when you consider that this figure drops to 2% for people aged 16-29.
However, there should be no age barrier when it comes to embracing modern-day technology, which is why Age Action Ireland runs the Silver Surfer Awards.
Sponsored by open eir, the awards recognise the success of older people who use technology and the internet, as well as their tutors who teach them the skills.
To enter this year’s open eir Silver Surfer awards, go to www.ageaction.ie where nomination forms are available. The closing date for entry is 17 February, with the awards taking place on 28 March.
Categories
The five categories for the 2017 open eir Silver Surfer Awards are as follows.
New to IT award
A person over the age of 50 who is new to technology and has overcome challenges to become an IT user.
Hobbies on the net award
An older person who uses the internet to pursue their passion or hobby, or who uses IT for communication and social networking.
Golden IT award
An individual over the age of 80 who uses technology to enhance their life.
Silver Surfer award
An older person who embraces the internet or technology with a sense of fun and adventure.
IT tutor(s) of the year award
An individual or group providing voluntary support to older learners.
John Flynn, who recently turned 66, won the New to IT Award in 2014.
“When I started to learn how to work the computer, I thought it wasn’t for me but the tutors in the Age Action group told me to stay at it. I came home after the fourth or fifth session and bought a computer and never looked back,” John says.
After taking early retirement from his job, John looked after his mother for eight years. When she died, he got very down. He was drinking and depressed.
“I was sitting in the chair the whole time and crying over my mother, drinking whiskey straight from the jar,” he confides.
“My niece came in one day and said she heard on the radio of a lady who was part of a club for single, divorced and widowed people and told me to go. It took a lot of courage and I was sweating with tension, but I went and heard about the computer sessions through that,” he explains.
The Waterford city native uses his laptop to write emails and to look at the newspapers and sports online. Recently he has become the secretary of the company club that he initially joined.
John says that joining the club and learning how to use the computer gave him huge confidence – and winning the award even more.
“Someone nominated me for the award and then I went up to Dublin to get it and brought up a few from the club. It gave me such confidence to win and for a week after it I was like a new child coming into the world,” John says.
“I really think if I hadn’t joined the club and learned to use the computer, I’d be dead – I was in such a bad place at the time. “Using the computer helps keep my mind occupied. I’m able to look up anything I want and I love to sing, so I go on and print off lyrics and teach myself new songs.”
John believes there are lots of men in Ireland who are in the same position as he was and who could learn to use the computer and internet to occupy their mind and make them interested in life again.
“Surely there are lonely people out there who are just sitting in the chair like I was and thinking far too much? They should really learn to use the computer too,” he concludes.
Sean Radley won the Silver Surfer Award for hobbies on the net in 2014 because of the passion he has for technology and his online activity, particularly when it comes to his local community.
As a primary school teacher for 40 years, Sean saw the importance of audio and visual aids in teaching learning support. Sean is part of a team that runs millstreet.ie, a community website providing news on events in the community as well as information on Millstreet’s history.
“It’s a great use of communication. We put up information about local history and deaths. We often get people who are looking to trace their roots in the area as well,” Sean says.
He speaks fondly of his day at the Silver Surfer awards in Dublin almost three years ago: “It was hugely uplifting to win the award and meet so many people from different areas of life who have embraced technology.
“I left the awards with a great sense of encouragement,” he adds. “As we move into retirement, we have a sense that we are not supposed to be as active as we were, but incentives like this inspire the importance of being active at a more mature age.”
Sean says he would encourage people to use technology because it opens the world up. He was involved with setting up a local television station in the community known as LTV and LTV2, which is now internet-only since saorview came in.
“There are lots of great things you can access online like this, that older people could tune into if they used the internet more.
“Nowadays, social media is so important – it keeps people interested,” says Sean, who recently turned 66 and received lots of birthday wishes through Facebook.
Sean is also part of the Millstreet Gramophone Club, where he uses his IT skills to download songs and create CDs of the old music for the club’s members.
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