Apr 18, 2011:

Active Retirement Ireland's 25th AGM and 1st Trade and Tourism Show, The Gleneagle Hotel Killarney April 12th and 13

 Active Retirement Ireland's 25th AGM and 1st Trade and Tourism Show, 

The Gleneagle Hotel Killarney April 12th  and 13th

Over 400 members of Active Retirement Associations attended Active Retirement Ireland's Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Killarney, Co. Kerry on the 13.04.11 where they met Dr. Martin McAleese, who delivered the keynote address at the event.

The theme for the Active Retirement Ireland (ARI) AGM was the inclusion of men in the Active Retirement Ireland's activities and the importance of promoting community involvement and social participation amongst older men.

The AGM, opened by Tom O'Mahony, President of Active Retirement Ireland, focussed on the inclusion of men in the Active Retirement Ireland's activities and the importance of promoting community involvement and social participation amongst older men.

Dr. Martin McAleese - together with the President Mary McAleese - has been working to combat rural isolation among men through events and strategic partnerships.  In his speech at the ARI AGM, Dr. McAleese highlighted the importance of men staying active after they retire, and urged the men who attended the event to continue to keep up interests and stay involved in their communities.

Active Retirement Ireland said it was a great honour that Dr. McAleese addressed the AGM. The organisation urged retired men across Ireland to look to their community and identify ways of getting involved in activities to enable them to stay active and connected. Sean Kilbride from the GAA Social Initiative provided an overview of this project while Gabriel Rohan from Ballinasloe ARA presented their work on the ground with the local GAA.

Over the past two years, ARI has prioritised male involvement in the organisation.  Currently, of the 23,000 members of Active Retirement Ireland, 20 per cent are men.  This represents a steady increase over the period.

The AGM looked at two of the many initiatives with which ARI collaborate to mobilise retired men to become more involved in their communities.  These were:

Men's Sheds: The Moynalty ARA Men's Shed is a community-based project which is open to all men where the primary activity is the provision of a safe, friendly and inclusive environment where the men are able to gather and/or work on meaningful projects at their own pace, in their own time and in the company of other men and where the primary objective is to advance the health and well- being of the participating men.

GAA Social Initiative: The Initiative uses the GAA Club network as a vehicle to engage older men who are not currently participating in local community life. It involves GAA clubs organising activities and events aimed specifically at older men. The 'Initiative' is not exclusive to GAA members - all older men within club areas are made welcome.

Trade and Tourism Show 2011

Over 60 enterprises from the trade and tourism sector took stands at the 1st Trade and Tourism show held by ARI on 12th of April in INEC Killarney. The event, launched by Minister of State Michael Ring, was very successful with around 2000 people attending the open event. As well as the huge variety of stands, workshops were organised for people to get a flavour of the different activities.  A fashion show was organised courtesy of Shaws' Department Stores of Tralee. The clothes were modelled by ARI members, who looked great. The day ended with music and a grand prize draw. 

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