Edel Coffey: There’s a reason why some cultures honour their elders — we used to be one of them

Somewhere in the middle of the Celtic Tiger we seemed to forget that knowledge and experience can’t be bought but has to be earned

Edel Coffey: I’ve always prized experience, not just in professionals, but in friends too.

Recently, I read an interview with the TV presenter Maura Derrane (she of the Today show fame) where she spoke about how, at the age of 51, she doesn’t waste time worrying about “young ones” coming up behind her. “That’s just ridiculous,” she told The Sunday Independent. “I don’t have what they have – years younger – and they don’t have what I have – years of experience, years of knowledge.” 

And she was right. It is ridiculous to try to compete on the playing field of looks with a woman 20 years your junior, just as it is ridiculous to expect a 20-something to have the kind of knowledge and experience that only comes with years spent working on a job. It was great to hear it pointed out though.