Age Friendly

Chapter 2: Consultation and Consolidation
managers and there is a need for quarterly
meetings to give everyone a group to report
back to.”
The key to achieving the aims of the Age
Friendly strategy is for it to be “embedded”
and “mainstreamed” within the organisations
that support it. “We found that transport was
an issue for Fingal and we have addressed
that. Now, housing is emerging as an issue
– up to now, the Council wasn’t building
anything so now, we need to look for some
interesting models for housing for older
people. For example, rather than setting
aside a percentage of units for older people,
the Council could consider buying a building
and adapting it for use like what developed in
MacAuley Place in Naas, County Kildare.”
The Older People’s Council (or Senior Citizens
Forum, as it is known locally) in Fingal is active
and engaged with the age friendly agenda,
according to Nora Owen. “The fact that they sit
on the committee [Age Friendly Alliance] with us
gives status to the group and allows discussion
of important issues to be brought to the table.
For example, it creates a dynamic between
the Gardai, the HSE and older people when
problems are discussed at these meetings.”
Nora Owen is however concerned that the Age
Friendly branding isn’t well known among the
general population. “I think it has been difficult
to pull out the “unique selling point” of the
“Age Friendly” message. Personally, I’d like to
see signs on the way into places like Galway
and Fingal with the Age Friendly logo on them.
That would encourage people to ask what it is
and look it up to find out more,” she says.
“I’d like to see every Age Friendly county in
Ireland with the Age Friendly logo on the board
welcoming people to the county. We also need
more consciousness-raising on the benefits of
universal design.”
Back in Fingal, she is however very pleased
to see Beaumont Hospital and Dublin Airport
taking on the Age Friendly agenda. “I think
airports are unfriendly because generally
people are nervous on arrival, worrying
whether they have all their cases, tickets and
passports. A large percentage of passengers
is over 55 and having seating on the long
corridors to flight gates is important.”
Hosting public events to highlight the
commitment of places like Beaumont Hospital
and Dublin Airport are, according to Nora,
great ways to increase public awareness of
age friendly initiatives.
And, small things make a difference too.
“Whenever I go to an event, I spec the room,
looking for seats to go sit on before the speeches
begin. Whether people have thought of providing
seats at public launches or not are some of the
things you notice as you get older. It’s still quite
ad hoc, it would be great if people thought of
what older people need automatically in their
planning. This is really what we’re aiming for.”
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