Age Friendly

Chapter 4: Implementation
group. So the Executive Committee meets monthly and we take our mandate from the bigger
group which meets twice yearly. It works very well.” She received a Kilkenny Person of the Year
Award in 2013 for her outstanding work in the community.
Members of the Older People’s Forum Executive Committee are on decision making groups on
housing, access and the provision of health services for older people in Kilkenny. Nora Webster
says that this is a critical aspect of the programme. “Kilkenny city has changed – particularly the
public areas and access to information. I feel older people have become a real part of the decisionmaking
and planning process whether it’s a County Development Plan or a site for a new seat.”
“It took a lot of time for officials within the local authorities to take
the Older People’s Forum seriously and to take our issues on board.
We have had to follow up a lot. We also needed to understand how
things worked in terms of timeframes and plans.”
She admits though that it takes time to get things done. “It took a lot of time for officials within
the local authorities to take the Older People’s Forum seriously and to take our issues on board.
We have had to follow up a lot. We also needed to understand how things worked in terms
of timeframes and plans. Our main issues are transport, public toilets and bus shelters with
seating. We have achieved a lot but transport is still proving to be a difficult issue – we need
more buses from the outskirts of Kilkenny into the city.”
Overall though, she would advice older people to get involved with the Age Friendly programme.
“You can be part of the process of making change for the better in your city or county. You
get a great satisfaction out of that. You don’t realise until you are involved that you have such
an amount to give. By coming together and talking about issues as a group, each issue is
voiced. Though it can be a slow process, you can get things done and you get a great sense of
achievement from it.”
101