Clodagh Finn: Pandemic upside — we have stopped patronising the over-80s

We’ve heard matter-of-fact stories of the elderly people who are still driving, still shopping and still communicating despite lockdown. Many of them took to Zoom without a second thought to keep in touch

Edna O’Brien, often referred to as 'Ireland’s greatest living writer', has been in the spotlight for decades. It is unsurprising we still follow her career.

One of the unexpected positives of the Covid vaccine rollout, apart from the obvious health benefits, is that older people are suddenly much more visible. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many people over 80 being interviewed on TV, which makes you realise how sadly absent their voices are in ‘normal’ times.

Right now, they are big news. On every news channel, in every country, cameras have been following an age group that doesn’t often get much coverage. The world media wants to tell the good-news story of the arrival of a vaccine, and what better way to do that than by talking to the first to receive it.