Giving a voice to Kilkenny's senior issues

Members and the Executive Committee of the Kilkenny Seniors Forum met recently for their AGM in County Hall, where they were updated on a range of age-friendly initiatives under way in the city and county, with the aim of making Kilkenny a better place in which to grow old.

The Kilkenny Older Peoples forum was formed in 2010 — launched by the great Hollywood star Maureen O’Hara. Over the past nine years, the group has become a very strong advocate for the rights of senior citizens, and in 2016 it was renamed the ‘Kilkenny Seniors Forum’.

The number of people now living longer into their senior years is growing year on year. Age action groups like Alone, Age Action Alliance and the Kilkenny Seniors Forum now work together to give advice service and lobby the relevant bodies to provide these services on an ongoing basis.

Chairperson John Coonan addressed the forum and thanked everyone for their great work and support that makes the forum one of the best in Ireland. Eileen Ryan gave the treasurer’s report showing that the organisation is in healthy state financially.

Senior Executive Officer at Kilkenny County Council Michael Delhaunty, who is the Kilkenny Age Friendly county programme co-ordinator, gave an extensive overview of the works done and the work to do to “make Kilkenny a great place to grow old”, which is the forum’s motto.

Since taking up the position in 2017, Mr Delahunty has been the leading force behind the Thomastown’s drive to becoming and Age Friendly town.

Following many late nights and long days working with stakeholders in Thomastown, they now have a template covering the areas of interest that were highlighted during the consultation period. These issues have now been raised with the local authority and are currently being addressed. Thomastown will receive its age friendly status this year.

Another strong and vibrant initiative is the work being done by the Forum and Kilkenny Chamber of Commerce as they work together to make Kilkenny a city that is an Age Friendly retail city. This project has been support by all stakeholders and under the guidance of Chamber president Marion Acreman.

The programme will be launching its training and consultation sector on Wed 20 in Ormonde Hotel, which is an Age Friendly hotel.

The purpose of the Seniors Forum is to advocate for the rights and services of seniors in Kilkenny City and county. This is done by members holding seats on the Special Policy Committees (SPCs) of the local authority, working closely with the Public Participation Network (PPN) The forum works with St Luke’s Hospital, holding seats on the Patient Partnership Forum and the St Luke’s Steering group.

The local hospital has now put in place their GEMS programme, which guarantees the best service available to any seniors who enter the hospital. This service ensures that they will be seen by all the relevant specialist to during their stay to give a full health check.

This ensures the patient receives the highest standard of care and also limits their stay to the appropriate length, which allows them to spend more time at home with family and friends — the best environment for a speedy recovery to full health.

The Age Alliance Kilkenny City and County Seniors Forum is a voluntary organisation and is free to join. The forum now has 400 members and all are welcome to join. The head office is located at 42 Parliament Street, and new members can get the members application form from any of the committee members.