Pauline O’Reilly: We are experiencing an epidemic of loneliness – something must be done

A recent survey suggested the Irish are the loneliest people in Europe. As a politician who canvasses regularly, I see signs of loneliness everywhere and there is no doubt it is becoming an increasingly common problem in every age group. That’s why my colleagues in the Green Party and I brought a motion to the Seanad last week on the topic of ­loneliness.

We called on Taoiseach Simon ­Harris to set up a commission to look into the causes of loneliness and suggest solutions. We did this because we believe the State has a role to play in reversing this dismal record. Laws and policies can either accelerate the atomisation of society or bring people closer together. We need to come ­together.

What’s at stake here? Your health and my health and our neighbours’ health. US surgeon general Vivek Murthy warned a year ago that America faces a public health crisis of loneliness, isolation and lack of connection. The figures he cited were startling.

Physical health consequences include a 29pc increased risk of heart disease, a 32pc increased risk of stroke and a 50pc increased risk of developing dementia for older adults. Additionally, lacking social connection increases risk of premature death by more than 60pc.

Here in Ireland, we have the highest reported level of loneliness in the EU with more than 20pc of Irish people reporting that they feel lonely most or all of the time. This is even more severe for older people; nearly a third of Irish adults over 50 feel emotionally lonely occasionally.

There is often a perception that loneliness is an older person’s ailment. In fact, loneliness can affect people at every age and is rising precipitously among the young. International research finds no clear link between age and loneliness in America or Britain while younger people in Japan are lonelier than other age cohorts. International research shows young adults and the over-85s tend to have the highest share of lonely people of any adult age group.

Many reasons are given for this — social media, smaller families, long commutes — but the reality is we simply don’t know enough about this topic. To a degree, loneliness is the price we pay for independence and freedom although it is a curious fact that people are lonelier in southern and central Europe than countries in north-western Europe which tend to have more people living alone.​

So what should we do? We believe the Government needs to take action to understand the problem and then implement solutions. This means appointing a minister with specific responsibility for the issue. It means learning from other countries such as Britain, Denmark, Japan and Australia which have introduced campaigns to tackle the problem.

What might come out of such campaigns? Well, we could look at how best to give people the time to join in social communities like church choirs or sports teams. Funding for sports or the arts could be tilted towards those organisations that involve people at a community level. There could be special campaigns to help students going to college for the first time.

The increase in dropout rates in almost all of our third-level institutions since Covid is probably one of the clearest signs of increasing loneliness and mental health problems among the young. Planning regulations could encourage the building of housing which encourages people to meet one another and mixes people of different ages in the same estate.

These are simple ideas but not all the solutions are obvious. The excellent charity Alone has been calling for a national campaign on loneliness since 2018. Alone has created a partnership of 12 organisations and academics from across society which warns that a strategy to combat loneliness for all ages will require both investment and a sophisticated response that encompasses new ideas.

As a Green, I am naturally pleased that many of our policies such as new bus routes in rural areas are part of the solution. But I admit that this is not enough. No approach or organisation has a monopoly on good ideas but the first step towards finding a solution is usually to acknowledge that there is a problem.

We have a problem. It is not new but it has become worse since Covid. The next step is a commission of some kind that will examine the views of charities such as Alone as well as academics, lonely people and the experiences of countries that are actively tackling the issue.

Then we should appoint a minister to ensure the proposals are implemented. We owe it to the one in five people in Ireland today who feel lonely most or all of the time.​

Senator Pauline O’Reilly is the Green Party candidate for the European ­elections in Midlands North West and one of five Green senators who brought a motion to the Seanad last Wednesday to combat loneliness

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