Elder abuse prize win

THREE media students from Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) secured a remarkable first, second and third prizes in a prestigious national competition to raise awareness of elder abuse.

Tim Shearwood, Aodha Molloy and Jack Daniel-Dempsey swept the board, taking all three places in the educational category of the ‘Open Your Eyes – Open Your Lens’ competition run by the HSE.

The first prize winner, Tim Shearwood, received a cheque for e1,000; second prize winner, Aodha Molloy received a cheque for e500; and third prize of e250 went to Jack Daniel-Dempsey.

Netwell Centre Director Rodd Bond said: “Abuse and neglect of older adults remains a largely under-recognized and unspoken problem. It is a complex and multi-faceted problem, encompassing many different types of harms.

“It is something which can occur in community or institutional settings, and no community or country in the world is immune from this social problem.

“So education and public awareness campaigns like this have an absolutely fundamental role to play in any good prevention strategy. The Netwell Centre works very hard with, and for, older people in Co Louth...”