The murder last year of a campaigner for better security for older people was an isolated incident and should not make people fearful in their homes, a senior garda told a seminar in Dublin.
Supt Catherine Clancy said fear of crime sometimes carried a greater impact than crime itself, and older people should not be afraid to go out or feel like "prisoners in their homes".
She told the seminar, organised by the Dublin branch of the National Association of Widows in Ireland, that the death last year of the organisation's national secretary, Mrs Mary Dillon (72), was an "isolated case". Mrs Dillon's body was found in the garage of her home in Glasnevin, Dublin, in November. She had been a campaigner for more State assistance in providing security for people living alone and in fear of attack. Supt Clancy, who is shortly to become the Garda's first woman Chief Superintendent, acknowledged there was a "terrible fear of crime" in society, and not just among older people. She said that while the Neighbourhood Watch scheme was "working excellently" in some areas, in others it was not "working as well as it ought to do".
"I would accept that the gardai need to give it more commitment in some areas but I would also like to see the push coming from the community themselves," she said.
The seminar was told of the importance of older people getting the opportunity to become familiar with developments in information technology.
Ms Louise Richardson, director in Ireland of the UN International Year of Older Persons, said some people were bewildered by IT and the confusing language involved.
"We have to realise that unless we have a little knowledge of this we are going to become more and more isolated . . . things like email, which is so simple and easy to use, could revolutionise our lives, especially those living in isolated areas," she said.
Ms Richardson said that as part of the activities of the International Year of Older Persons funding had been obtained from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment for the training of older people in IT.
The Labour Party front bench member, Mr Eamon Gilmore, said there were 184,400 widowed people in Ireland, which was more than the number of farmers and almost as many as the entire public service workforce. Many were living in poverty, yet successive governments had failed to give this "huge portion" of the population the priority it deserved.
The secretary general of the Department of Health and Children, Mr Jerry O'Dwyer, said the Department was committed to producing an integrated healthcare strategy for older people which would take account of significant demographic changes over the next 10 years.
A message was read to the 130-odd delegates from the President, Mrs McAleese, who said ownership of the future was not the exclusive right of the young "but of each and every one of us - young and old, men and women alike.
"I hope that 1999 will be the year in which both society as a whole and older people themselves will recognise the importance of always expanding their horizons, taking on new challenges, seeking new opportunities and staying active and independent for as long as possible, with the support of the community and the various voluntary and statutory agencies," she said.
The seminar, titled "Future Planning - A Social Policy for an Ageing Society", was held on Saturday at the Tara Tower Hotel. It was officially opened by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Ald Joe Doyle.
