Wednesday 22 February 2012

One hundred and thirty older people from across Belfast gathered in City Hall today for the first of seven highly anticipated Pensioners Parliaments due to take place across Northern Ireland in the coming weeks.  All eager to make their voices heard on the problems they face at present, the Belfast pensioners in attendance discussed and voted on issues such as energy prices, health and social care, community safety and transport.

The 2012 Northern Ireland Pensioners Parliament, which kicked off in Belfast today, also offers pensioners the opportunity to question local politicians – a brand new feature of the parliaments this year.

The Northern Ireland Pensioners Parliament was launched last year by Age Sector Platform; and the older people’s charity says it is expecting 2012 to be even bigger and better with over 500 older people having already signed up to take part.  The Pensioners Parliaments, due to take place in the coming weeks, will be held in Craigavon, Antrim, Enniskillen, Newtownards, Coleraine and Cookstown – ensuring a platform for older people to make their voice heard in every county.

Patricia Donald, Chair of Age Sector Platform, said: “This is a great opportunity for older people from across Northern Ireland to make their voice heard.  The parliaments during the next six weeks will actively encourage older people from every county in Northern Ireland to tell us about their issues of concern.  This year, for the first time, they will also have the opportunity to address MLAs from their local area; thereby ensuring their representatives at Stormont can not fail but be aware of the major problems facing older people in their area.”

“We know that this process does have an impact.  The 2011 Northern Ireland Pensioners Parliament resulted in several significant commitments by the Northern Ireland Executive over the last few months in relation to older people; whilst our MPs have also taken strong action at Westminster based on the findings of the 2011 Parliament.  We hope 2012 can be even more successful with the support of older people across Northern Ireland.”

“Since the beginning of 2012 we have been asking pensioners across Northern Ireland, through our survey, what the main problems are for them at this time.  Already we have seen the top issues from 2011 re-appear; issues such as energy prices, fear of crime, food prices and access to health and social care.  Through the local parliaments we want to explore these issues in more depth whilst also emphasising the fact that they have remained a top concern two years in a row with politicians and service providers.”

Pensioners wishing to attend any of the upcoming parliaments should contact Age Sector Platform on 028 9031 2089 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  More information can be found at www.pensionersparliament.org.