80 is the new 60: Staying active is key to enjoying a longer life

Who wouldn't want to follow the recipe for long living recommended by Navan's Mayor Anton McCabe last week? "80 is the new 60," he said, slicing 20 years off our real ages. You wouldn't get that for good behaviour in a prison sentence. He was performing the official opening of the new outdoor activity park at Navan's Claremont Stadium where a new facility is now available for the elderly, people with disabilities and those just wanting to get back to exercise. It might prove a challenge too far for some of us 'sofa loafahs' or remote control freaks whose idea of sport and exercise is to switch TV channels and give an occasional pat to the dog. For those who are now 80, the Ireland of today is a world away from the country they were born into in 1931. Indeed, if one is to go by the events guide in Wikipedia, not much happened. Sixteen members of the Ennis Dalcassian GAA club were expelled for attending a rugby match; the first St Patrick's Day parade held in the Irish Free State; persistent rainfall caused the banks of the Lee to burst, flooding half the city's houses; An "ige was established and Muintir na Tíre was founded; lawbooks returned to the rebuilt Four Courts where High Court business resumeed after its destruction during the Civil War; the derelict aerodrome at Collinstown in north County Dublin was considered for the site for a new civil airport, and the Ulster Canal was abandoned. Of course, there are people who say that birthdays are just a date in the calendar, and warmly embrace all the freedom that advancing age provides. We can even afford an indulgent smile about 'Mike's Jokes - clean jokes about senior citizens' - old accountants never die, they just lose their balance; old actors never die, they just drop apart; old bankers never die, they just lose interest (but not their gold watches!); old beekeepers never die, they just buzz off; old bosses never die, much as you want them to; old cleaning people never die, they just kick the bucket; old doctors never die, they just lose their patience; old farmers never die, they just go to seed; old investors never die, they just roll over; old lawyers never die, they just lose their appeal; and old journalists never die, they just get de-pressed. If we look around us, the 80-year-olds are pretty thick on the ground - those like Paddy Cooney, solicitor, former Fine Gael TD, Cabinet Minister and MEP; the colourful Jackie Healy-Rae, former Fianna Fail TD for Kerry South; Patrick Walsh, former Bishop of Down and Connor; Paddy Harte, former Fine Gael TD and Minister of State, and Mervyn Taylor, former Labour Party TD and Cabinet Minister. And then there's Rupert Murdoch, the seventh oldest CEO of a public company with a market capitalisation of at least $500 million who, according to the New York Times, came across at the recent parliamentary hearings into the phone hacking scandal, as "vague, detached and unfocused, as an old man who was at times not quite all there" but is also described as "never been a disengaged boss, especially from his newspapers". We can justifiably say that interest in activities for older people gained a new currency when the Summerhill Active Retirement Group was set up in Meath. It was established to fulfil a perceived lack of facilities for members of the older community and was the brainchild of Mary Nally who, from her first-hand experience of nursing older people in St Joseph's Hospital in Trim, was well aware of the negative health implications of the lack of activities and isolation of older people. What followed from those initial meetings was staggering in its impact. The Third Age Resource and Information Centre is today a highly organised and professional resource for the 'oldies'. It now plaans activities and represents the interests of the members both nationally and internationally. Age shouldn't be a barrier to people who want to 'lark in the park'. As Mary Murphy, co-ordinator of Meath Local Sports Partnership said at the recent opening of the Claremont Park activity park, "play is beneficial at every stage of life, but it is especially important later in adulthood when staying active is vital to living longer and healthier".