COLUMN: So, when did you last see your neighbour?

It's only the one life and we should make the most of it and surround ourselves with what's good and wholesome. For very many that's not likely, or even possible. However, no matter how we might agree with such sentiment, there are times in everyone's life when they feel lonely or isolated, emotionally cut off from those around them.
Loneliness is not the same as being alone, of social isolation. We can be isolated – alone – yet not feel lonely; can be surrounded by others, yet feel lonely. This distinction is often overlooked by policy makers and researchers.
The Bank Holiday last May saw the inaugural 'Big Hello', a Government initiative to encourage all communities to host events locally to strengthen community ties and tackle social isolation.

A Macra na Feirme survey finds that a third believe that rural isolation is the biggest issue facing Ireland (followed by depopulation). Despite the craic and bit of banter when people gathered last May in pub or community hall or wherever, all hail fellow well met, when the weekend was over we all trundled off back home and closed our doors behind us.
How else do you explain the inquest last week which heard that 84-year-old Richie Scanlon lay dead at his home in Cork for up to seven months. Mr Scanlon's body was in such a decomposed state, accelerated by an electric heater still switched on at the house.

Coroner Philip Comyn said it was "disheartening" that the absence of Mr Scanlon from day-to-day life was not noted sooner. "It seems very strange that this man didn't collect his pension and that didn't trigger any alarm bells. The fact that he was a man of routine who went to the pub twice a week and went to the bookies. I find it troubling that in this age of mass communication this poor gentleman appears to have slipped through the cracks."
The coroner acknowledged that the family had done their best for the lifelong bachelor given his reclusive nature. But had they? Done enough? Seven months?