Maire Devine (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We now have gated communities in which people live in locked environments. The social fabric of the country has changed beyond recognition.We have had rapid advances in technology, in particular over the past 20 or 25 years, which have made us more detached as humans. As for friends on Facebook, my God, I have 5,000. I am very happy with that but I do not know one of them. Eye contact, seeing somebody smile, and having a hug or a touch are very important aspects of friendship. Perhaps we could all count our real friends on our hands. They are the people who keep us going. They are our family. They are the real close friends we count on. One of the major bulwarks against loneliness is being able to share happiness, sadness and the ins and out and ups and downs of life in real time and not virtually.

We have urban sprawl, rural depopulation, emigration, funding cuts and family fragmentation for whatever reason. People lose their children to other parts of the world, or to other parts of the country where housing is available or more affordable. Fragmentation also happens in communities. We need to manage this and acknowledge it as part of life at present. When we talk about loneliness we might be thinking more about the elderly population, but it does not just affect them. It is more general. Social isolation and loneliness affect people of every age.

I thank Senator Swanick for writing the report and the others who contributed. It is very welcome. It raises the issue of loneliness. I feel I could go further and hope its publication is just the beginning of a process to discuss it continually and deal with this societal issue. There is a stigma around the issue but I hope it will begin to be blown out of the water and that people will acknowledge loneliness. It is certainly not the case that when people are lonely they are odd in some way or that they are pariahs. It is just the way that life sometimes works out for people.

As Senator Swanick said, it is not a mental illness, although that is part of his brief. It is about well-being and the promotion of well-being. Loneliness undermines our well-being and sense of self. I remember nursing a retired surgeon who wanted to kill himself. When I asked him why, he said he had nobody left and that he did not want to spend all day going to the post office. As we talked through how loneliness was affecting him, I learned he had no family left. He could not see that what he needed to do was reach out. He got stuck at home dreading having to take the whole day to post a letter. This is what he felt his life had become.

We always think of suicide as affecting young or middle-aged people, but with regard to older people it appears that it is easier for a coroner to say it is an accidental death. Research suggests a larger proportion of older people commit suicide due to depression, which can be onset by loneliness and our society's inability to rectify it. We need to be positive. There are community groups, volunteer groups and advocacy services. Examples are Tidy Towns and the general spring clean that happens every year on various streets and roads. These involve society pulling together to address issues and provide a listening ear. It is about friends as it is not a professional service. It is ordinary members of the community and about people feeling they belong.

In Dublin we do not have rural isolation as we have a little more busyness. Life is a bit more frenetic perhaps and there is much more activity. Perhaps we are less inclined to loneliness but I am not sure. Senator Swanick might know more about that than I do. We are living longer so, unfortunately, we lose more people ,in that we are around to see more of our loved ones lost. Average life expectancy is 82 and I am sure we lose people as we go along. At the funeral of an older person, one wonders how many friends that person has left and how difficult it must be to lose friends and loved ones. We have not really spoken about this and it is important. Senator Swanick has begun this conversation.

I always say, and I believe it is true for most things in life, that the cure for people is other people. The cure for well-being is being with other positive people and allowing ourselves to thrive and become involved and have a say in our society, whether it be urban or rural, through our hobbies. One of the big successes has been the Men's Sheds. Traditionally men were less able to talk, open up and have a chat. I visited several that have opened in south central Dublin. Last year, I visited one in Rialto in Dublin 8. They were carving, painting and doing construction and men's stuff requested by the community and in support of each other. Many of them were unemployed following the recession and were finding it very difficult to click back into life and find usefulness. They are using the crafts and skills that all of us have in various areas. There is also awareness of green issues coming through the men's sheds and this is spreading through the communities.

I now come to that dreaded word Brexit, which is not far away. I imagine it will have a major negative influence on entrenching our country's isolation. We need to think about this in psychological terms, particularly regarding what will happen in the Border. Green cards are being spoken about as a requirement for people to cross the Border. At present, we have free travel arrangements on the island but it is all up in the air and God knows what will happen if we have a no-deal Brexit. Certainly, Border isolation will be increased.

Societal development has not been kind to older people. Isolation has become more prevalent. I have named many of the factors that contribute to this. We need to reach out. Friendship and communication must be intergenerational because this way we will be able to understand each other. We will begin to understand the cranky old man or narky old woman and troublesome teenager by speaking to each other. The economy is in recovery and I hope it will bounce on. We all have ideas and suggestions and Senator Swanick has put them down on paper. We need to progress them. We also need community infrastructure and streetscapes for access for older people who get more disabled. I congratulate Senator Swanick for naming loneliness, getting it out there, raising awareness and, I hope, reconnecting Ireland, North and South.