Rural crime: helpline calls spike in wake of Waterford murder

Calls to the Third Age Ireland senior helpline spiked in the wake of the murder of 90-year-old Paddy Lyons, who was found dead in his isolated farmhouse in Ballysaggart, Co Waterford, on 25 February.

The helpline, which provides and empathetic peer listening service to people aged from their mid-60s and upwards, received more than 20,000 calls in 2016.

“Whenever there is a robbery or a terrible incident like Mr Lyons, our call numbers always spike,” Anne Dempsey told the Irish Farmers Journal.

“Older people get worried when they hear about things like that; they start to feel vulnerable and isolated,” she said. “It brings to the fore the fact that they are on their own.

“Our rural callers can be geographically isolated and they may no longer be able to drive,” said Dempsey. “The closing down of local facilities and the lack of good local transport means that life has closed in on them.”

Third Age Ireland volunteers take calls to listen, offer support and direction to other services which may help their callers.

“For some older people, their home is a fortress and always locked. For others, they leave it wide open,” says Dempsey. “We encourage them to have a prudent sense of self-protection. We talk about using door-viewers to see who is calling, advise them to ask callers to identify themselves and have a safety chain on the door when opening it.”

Callers are also given information on personal safety alarms and discounted group rates available from the Department of Social Protection.

“We advise against people locking themselves into their room at night and not to have cash in the house. However, that is very common as it can be so difficult to get to the post office and bank these days.”

The Third Age Ireland senior help line is open every day 10am-10pm on LoCall 1850-440 444.

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