Age Friendly
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Case Studies: Monaghan<br />
“<br />
What Those Involved Have to Say About Monaghan<br />
<strong>Age</strong> <strong>Friendly</strong> County Programme<br />
Declan McKernan is a senior engineer in Monaghan County Council. He<br />
worked with planner, Seamus Furlong to make Castleyblayney an <strong>Age</strong> <strong>Friendly</strong><br />
Town.“The <strong>Age</strong> friendly town initiative was a rare opportunity for collective<br />
thinking. The local authority, the Gardai, the VEC [now Education and Training<br />
Board], social services, HSE and various community groups came together<br />
with the <strong>Age</strong> <strong>Friendly</strong> Alliance to look at Castleblayney Town. The aim was to<br />
develop a simple and common sense approach in making Castleblayney a<br />
more accessible and easier town to get around - either for doing buisness or to<br />
enjoy a simple stroll.<br />
“I sat on the steering group and it was an eye opener to learn what the real issues<br />
are for people. The walkability audit was a great success: It turned out to be a<br />
‘snag list’ of what improvements could be done to the footpaths, signage, bus<br />
stops, seating and crossing points that would allow the town to become more<br />
user friendly.<br />
However it wasn’t all about concrete and kerbs, far from it, as the delivery of<br />
quality health services, feeling safe and making a meaningful contribution to<br />
community life were also key objectives. For example, giving people living in<br />
isolated areas easier access to the town through neighbourhood car schemes,<br />
getting volunteers to act as community alerts for bogus callers, considering<br />
group purchases of home heating supplies to cut down prices were all issues<br />
that were raised and addressed. Finding opportunities for older people to interact<br />
with younger generations also became one of our goals.<br />
Having the planner, Seamus Furlong assigned to Castleblayney broke down<br />
the barriers of ‘them and us’ to seek a common goal. To be honest without<br />
Seamus’s lead, it would be difficult to see how the initiative could have been as<br />
successful as it was. Ballybay and Clones are now in the process of following<br />
Castleblayney’s approach in making their towns <strong>Age</strong> <strong>Friendly</strong>. It’s an opportunity<br />
for those towns to develop a strategy that has actual achievable<br />
“<br />
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