The World Health Organisation (WHO) has included County Clare in its Global Network for Age-Friendly Cities and Communities.The movement involves communities, cities and other sub-national levels of government that have pledged to meet the needs of their older residents.

At present there are 541 cities and communities in 37 countries, covering over 179 million people worldwide included in the world wide initiative. Some of the cities included across the globe  are Dallas (USA), Reykjavik (Iceland), Barcelona (Spain), Rennes (France), Busan (South Korea), Porto (Portugal), Volvograd (Russia)  and Liverpool (UK).

Councillor Tom McNamara, Mayor of the county has welcomed it’s inclusion saying, “I am delighted to be able to support initiatives that seek to proactively address the needs of older citizens and build an age-friendly society. I am pleased that Clare is playing its part in building an Age-Friendly society in the county and contributing to this work abroad as part of this Global Network

Pat Dowling, Chair of the Clare Age Friendly Alliance and Chief Executive of Clare County Council, also welcomed the news, “By joining the Network, agencies involved in the implantation of the Clare Age Friendly Programme commit to sharing and promoting the values and principles central to the WHO Age-friendly approach, implementing the necessary steps to create age-friendly communities in line with the Clare Rural Development Strategy and actively participating in the Network including the sharing of experiences with other members.”

Visit www.who.int for more on the WHO Global Network for Age-Friendly Cities and Communities.

Cllr. Tom  McNamara, Mayor of Clare; Carole Head, Chair of the Clare Older People’s Council and Clare Age Friendly Alliance member; Karen Fennessy, Age Friendly Development Officer for Clare County Council and  Clare Age Friendly Alliance member; and  Pat Dowling, Chair of the Clare Age Friendly Alliance and Chief Executive of Clare County Council. Photo by Eamon Ward