Older People

Active Retirement Ireland (ARI) is a national membership organisation that aims to enable older people to lead a full, happy and healthy life through a range of opportunities organised by local older people themselves through local Active Retirement Associations.

ARI has a membership of 457 local associations.

Membership of the local associations is open to retired men and women over the age of 55 years. Our philosophy is based on older people doing things for themselves.

The Care & Repair Programme was established to carry out “odd jobs” for  older people and to provide a befriending service. The programme is currently based in Dublin, Galway and Cork, and on a franchise basis in other locations around the country. Care & Repair is funded by Irish Life Plc.

The main aim of the Programme is to assist older people to carry out necessary small repairs and improvements to their homes, enabling them to live independently in the community in increased comfort and safety.

Age Action supports and advocates for equality and human rights for all older people.

Age & Opportunity is the Irish national agency working to:

Challenge negative attitudes to ageing and older people.

Promote the participation of older people in all areas of society, and to encourage understanding between the generations.

Our major areas of work are: the arts, health, physical activity, education and the media.

Promoting public health intelligence for better policy-making and improved services is a core focus of  Institute of Public Health work. The Division of Ageing Research and Development has a particular focus on improving public health intelligence relating to ageing and older people. The division which was previously known as the Centre for Ageing Research and Development in Ireland (CARDI) became part of IPH in September 2015.

ALONE is a national organisation that helps older people in need to age at home

Ireland’s national celebration of creativity as we age. The Bealtaine Festival is run by Age and Opportunity. Each year during May all over the country Bealtaine events run in arts centres, theatres, libraries, galleries, community centres, local halls, care settings, cultural spaces and even in the open air.

Bluebird Care is dedicated to providing professional, safe, quality health and social care services in a dignified, respectful and compassionate manner to all its customers.

Our Values

At Bluebird Care we value our customers and the staff who care for them. We treat all of our customers with respect, dignity, compassion and kindness. Our staff work in a diligent, professional and courteous manner and uphold the high standards of conduct and performance which is expected of each staff member within the organisation.

Care Alliance Ireland is the National Network of Voluntary Organisations supporting family carers.

Our aims include:

• To enhance the status and well being of family carers, through supporting the work and activities of family carers organisations.
• To promote research into family carers lives, and to promote the sharing of information and ideas between family carer organisations.

Our Work includes: Quarterly Newsletters, Regular E-mail Bulletins, Annual Conference, Research in Family Carers, Advocacy, Representation at National Level.

COPE Galway is a community based voluntary organisation which enables the people of Galway to recognise and address the challenges posed by inequality and isolation in society.

COPE Galway works closely with partners in the community to provide targeted services - including a refuge for women and children affected by domestic violence, accommodation for homeless people and sustenance and social supports for older people at home.

Our services for older people promote for the care and welfare of older people living alone in Dublin and aim to improve the quality of life for older people, particularly those who are most disadvantaged and vulnerable through services, activities and advocacy.

These services include:

Dementia Elevator is a national dementia education and empowerment programme based in Dublin City University (DCU). The main motivation behind Dementia Elevator is to ensure that there are people in the community with the right skills at the right time to make staying at home a more obvious choice than is currently the case. Elevator focuses on the person’s ability rather than their disability and takes a person-centered approach to dementia care.

To access free online dementia training programmes including training for