Computer whizz Marguerite scoops silver surfer award at 95

SHE’S Ireland’s first official silver surfer, a netizen of considerable skills, whose talented use of emerging technologies belies her advanced years.

She’s 95-year-old Marguerite Faulkner, grandmother and great grandmother, surfer, sender of emails, Skyper extraordinaire and winner of the Silver Surfer of the Year Award, presented to her yesterday at the IMAGINE IT! conference, a celebration of older people and information technology organised by Age Action as part of Positive Ageing Week.

No stranger to challenges, the Tyrone woman’s early working life was spent in Stormont Castle, working in the Cabinet offices during the tenure of John Andrews, Northern Ireland’s second prime minister, until forced to retire under the civil service marriage ban.