Fergus Finlay: Older age deserves to go hand in hand with human dignity

The generation that is experiencing dementia now is the generation that built this independent little country and left a legacy to be proud of

Pat Dorgan, on his way to winning the first of his two bronze medals at the Special Olympic World Games in Shanghai in 2007. Pat died last week, and was laid to rest on Saturday, the day before his 60th birthday.

I only met Pat Dorgan once, but he left a lasting impression on me. The circumstances were special of course. It’s not often you meet someone for the first time in a place like Shanghai, but that’s where we were. It was 2007 and we were all at the World Special Olympic Summer Games — the ones that followed Ireland.

I was there with Frieda and Mandy — we were essentially volunteers at the Games — and Pat was there with members of his family, as a member of the Cork team, aiming for medals in table tennis. Sorry, I should have said the Irish team, but Pat was first and foremost a proud citizen of the rebel county.