“The ambition is that throughout Ireland Age-Friendly County Initiatives will be created to develop much valued improvements in quality of life, quality of services and quality of environment for older people, stated Kilkenny County Council Chairman, Michael O’Brien following a presentation by the ‘Ageing Well Network’, group.
He said that each initiative will be tailored to address the needs, priorities and preferences of older people in different parts of the country, it is also envisaged that they would share some common features. Cllr O’Brien said that this is not another attempt to reinvent the wheel but a serious attempt to knit together existing public, private and not for profit connectivity structures for the benefit of a growing sector of Irish society.
The Age-Friendly County Initiative idea is backed up by the ‘National Integration and Implementation Group’, supported by the Department of The Taoiseach. County Alliances will comprise the most senior decision makers from the key sectors affiliated to the County Development Board (CDB ). Kilkenny Local Authorities, HSE, Gardai, chairs of the newly created forums – Older People, Service Providers and Business, third level colleges and County Enterprise Board.
Speaking after Kilkenny CDB had endorsed Kilkenny as one of the next five counties to participate in the initiative’s national roll-out stages, Cllr O’Brien revealed that the results from the pilot project in Louth is providing a sustainable template. “I therefore thank all of the participants in the CDB for embracing this project which recognises the need to plan for demographic changes well in advance of the provision of needs”.
