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With every budget and general election campaign, promises to add a fiver to the pension come in thick and fast.

I estimate that this is the fourth Christmas column I’ve written for the Irish Examiner, and while I haven’t looked back at the others, I have a sneaking suspicion there are certain similarities between them all.

Is the country destined to wait until the challenges of aging morph into a crisis before action is even contemplated, asks Michael Clifford

The group is appealing for volunteers of all ages and in all areas to spend time with older people in the community.

In conversation with Hilary Fennell.

"They found the lady inside and she was very ill. Thank God she is alive but if they hadn’t gone to the house what would have happened?”

Stevie, the socially assistive robot, was initially created in 2017 by Prof Conor McGinn and the team at Trinity College.

A charity that supports tens of thousands of older people in Ireland has called for the state pension to be increased by €7 in this year’s budget.

50 new housing units in Inchicore in Dublin have been acquired by the ALONE charity.

The charity ALONE, which supports older people living at home, says demand has never been greater but funds are running thin.

"100,000 older people suffer isolation and loneliness to the extent that it will shorten their lives," he said. "One in three over-65s live on their own."

As winter draws in, one of the country’s leading charities for older people is calling for loneliness to become a public health issue, writes Marjorie Brennan.

The Government is being urged to appoint one department to battle loneliness and social isolation.

The number of older people in Ireland will go from half a million to a million and a half over the next five years.

A man aged 71, who was five days away from becoming homeless, has received accommodation.

A new book chronicles the first 40 years of the charity that ensures no-one dies alone and poor anymore, says Helen O’Callaghan

Stevie isn’t exactly the Adonis of robots, but looks can be deceiving. With a head that lends a whole new meaning to the word “interface”, Stevie is a wonder and represents a giant leap in the care of the elderly in Ireland.

People are being reminded to check in on our elderly relatives and neighbours this evening.

Older people living on their own are being reminded there are supports available to them.

Deaf rights campaigners have pleaded for official recognition for Irish Sign Language to help prevent more tragedies such as the lonely deaths of brothers Daniel and William McCarthy.

7.30am