The Commissioner for Older People, Eddie Lynch, will today (Thursday 12 December) step down from his role after eight years in post. Eddie Lynch took up the post in 2016 and is only the second Commissioner for Older People for Northern Ireland since the office was established in 2011.
Since he has been appointed, he has championed the rights of older people and spoken out on key issues including age discrimination, older people’s experiences of crime, treatment of older people during the Covid-19 pandemic, adult safeguarding and the urgent need for an Adult Protection Bill.
In 2018 he published a damning report investigating the care at Dunmurry Manor Care Home. The report was widely publicised and resulted in almost 50 recommendations for change to improve the quality of care being delivered in Northern Ireland.
Speaking on his last day in office Eddie Lynch said: “I feel deeply honoured to have held this post for the past eight years and have done my best to elevate the lived experiences and concerns of older people on a range of important issues.
“Although my time as Commissioner is ending, there is so much work still to be done to ensure our older people are prioritized and their voices are heard. I feel reassured knowing that this office will continue to work hard and call upon our government to adequately plan for the greatest demographic shift in our society – our ageing population. It is my hope that over the coming months and years we will see equality for older people across the board and that key pieces of legislation that I have lobbied hard for, such as the Adult Protection Bill and the Age Discrimination Legislation will finally come into effect in Northern Ireland.
“I would like to thank everyone who has trusted and supported me in my work over the last eight years, and for all those who positively engaged with my office to better understand and meet the needs of older people throughout Northern Ireland.”
