Winners of the 2024 National Age Friendly Recognition and Achievement Awards revealed

Ireland’s Top Age Friendly Initiatives Recognised at 2024 National Age Friendly Recognition and Achievement Awards.

An age and climate friendly village in Kildare and a Halloween safety initiative by An Garda Síochána in Kerry were among the winners of the 2024 National Age Friendly Recognition and Achievement Awards.

Announced at the 8th annual awards on November 7, the winning campaigns were chosen for their exceptional contribution to making Ireland an outstanding place to grow older.

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The award ceremony was MCed by RTÉ star Marty Whelan and hosted this year by Fingal County Council at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Northwood, Santry, Dublin.

The National Age Friendly Recognition and Achievement Awards winners from Kildare were Ballymore Eustace, Age Friendly Climate Friendly Village with Kildare County Council, received the Age Friendly Environment Award. 

Ballymore Eustace was chosen as a village to become Age Friendly and Climate Friendly by the fact that in the last census of 2016, Ballymore-Eustace had the largest number of older residents per head of population in the county. 

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From a Climate Action perspective, Ballymore-Eustace was chosen as an example of a rural commuter village and how it can integrate solutions at a community level to adapt to climate change.

Commenting on the awards, Ita Healy, Chair of the National Network of Older People’s Councils said: “This annual celebration of projects really personifies what it means to be age friendly. The calibre of projects across the country is a true testament to how Ireland is embracing the Age Friendly Ireland vision.

"A huge congratulations to the winners and all the shortlisted projects who were truly the gold standard of innovative ideas to improve the quality of life for older adults in Ireland. I look forward to seeing how other groups replicate the projects in their own communities.”

Peter Hynes, Chair of the Age Friendly Awards Selection Panel, who addressed over 300 attendees at the awards ceremony, said: “Choosing just a selection of winners from an exceptional list was no easy task. We visited each shortlisted project to establish if their work, which looked so fantastic on paper, lived up to expectations.

"Each one exceeded our expectations at every point. Congratulations to the overall winners, your projects are fantastic exemplars of Age Friendly initiatives.”

Recognised by Age Friendly Ireland, the overall winners were chosen as the top exemplars of best practices which are both impactful and can inspire similar efforts across the country.