This is the final report of the research project undertaken over the past year to chart the needs and circumstances of older people - that is people aged fifty years and over - in Northern Ireland. We are grateful to the Atlantic Philanthropies for funding the work. It has, we hope, made a very significant contribution to our knowledge of this important group in our society.

The project emerged from three core concerns which were conveyed to the research team by members of the voluntary sector and others. First, there was anxiety amongst those working with, and for, older people in Northern Ireland that they were hampered by lack of information. However, it was the view of the research team that a lot of data on older people was actually being collected through a wide range of large-scale surveys in Northern Ireland, but that the information was scattered across a number of data sets. One of the main aims of this project was, therefore, to bring the data together, subject them to fresh analysis and present the findings in a coherent narrative. This task has now been completed. In the past year, five reports have been produced.