Kilkenny Age Friendly Conference: Making Kilkenny a prime spot to grow old in

Chief executive of Kilkenny County Council Colette Byrne speaking at the launch of the report last Monday. Picture: Dylan Vaughan

placeholder image — Chief executive of Kilkenny County Council Colette Byrne speaking at the launch of the report last Monday. Picture: Dylan Vaughan

There was a huge turn out at this year’s conference for the Kilkenny Age Friendly Seniors Forum. Over 180 people attended the annual event in the Ormonde Hotel. This is the third year the conference has gathered to promote objectives that make Kilkenny a prime destination to grow old in.

Chairman of the Seniors Forum, John Coonan, welcomed a wide range of guest speakers throughout the day. These included John Paul Phelan, Collette Byrne, Pat Doherty of ALONE, Danielle Reddy of St Luke’s, Michael Delahunty, Marion Acreman, Mayor Peter Cleere, Dominic Hayes and Jennifer Glansford and Billy O’Keeffe of Age Action Ireland. There were also a number of information stands set up at the conference to display the products and services Kilkenny businesses can offer to senior citizens.

This year’s conference tackled the Kilkenny Access for All Strategy for 2018-2021. This saw many promising future initiatives laid out for Kilkenny, including a new age-friendly county bus service. Collette Byrne, Chair of the Kilkenny Age Friendly Alliance, announced that physical works for the bus service will begin in early 2019, while the service is expected to be in full operation by the second quarter of 2019.

The conference also heard Kilkenny County Council’s plans for an “open libraries” scheme, which would involve extended opening hours in all Kilkenny libraries, to increase availability to its services for older people.

The many achievements of the Kilkenny Seniors Forum thus far were also highlighted, particularly the huge work that is being done to transform Thomastown into an age-friendly town.

A walkability audit of the town in 2017 and the subsequent report outlined a range of actions - short, medium and long-term - that could be undertaken to make Thomastown more comfortable for its elderly residents.

Kilkenny has been groundbreaking with its policy making for senior citizens, since the county’s Older People’s Forum was first established in 2010. MacDonagh Junction, Kilkenny’s own age friendly shopping centre, is also the first of its kind in Ireland.