How can we live our best and longest life? It is a question that we all ponder as we age.

This episode looks at what is happening in county Meath, and nationally, to help us to ‘age in place’ and as recommended by the World Health Organisation.

Catherine McGuigan, Chief Officer, Age Friendly Ireland which is a shared service across the 31 local authorities in Ireland and hosted nationally by Meath County Council, talks about her work and why the voices of older people are so important.

We also hear how Meath County Council is providing for older residents and what the council is doing to contribute to, and enable, a decent quality of life for our older people.

Also in studio are Valerie McHugh Age Friendly Meath Programme Manager and Brian Hora, Senior Executive Officer, in the Community Dept with Meath County Council.

And we hear from Darren Kelly, Branch Manager, Tirlán, Athboy about what it has done to be age friendly, and an older person visits the store and shares her thoughts on it.

The Meath County Council Community Department can be contacted by emailing community@meathcoco.ie.

As Local Enterprise Week approaches, this episode of Local Lens takes you inside Thrive – Meath County Council’s new Centre of Business Excellence and the county’s most ambitious step yet in delivering seamless, strategic support to businesses of all sizes.

Located beside Buvinda House, Thrive brings every major business support team under one roof. From Economic Development and the Local Enterprise Office to Climate Action, Broadband, Tourism Development and the Centre for Food Culture, it is designed to be — in the words of Director of Economic Development Dara McGowan — “not just a one‑stop shop, but a first and only stop shop for business supports in Meath.”

In this episode, host Elaine Keogh explores how Thrive is already strengthening Meath’s enterprise landscape, attracting new investment, and providing practical, responsive support to established businesses.

In This Episode

A tour through Thrive and what it means for enterprise in Meath
How Boyne Valley Flavours elevates Meath’s food producers and culinary heritage
Why peer networks matter — and how collaboration makes businesses stronger

The story behind the MeathMade creative cluster and its growing impact
How Thrive supports everything from FDI to micro‑enterprises through centralised expertise and sector‑specific networks

Featuring

Dara McGowan, Director of Economic Development, Meath County Council
Rebecca Meade, Food Development Officer, Boyne Valley Flavours
Áine Farrelly, Urbo Milk
Caoimhe Delany, Local Enterprise Office Meath
Anita Reynolds, Designer and Chairperson of MeathMade

Voices From the Opening of Thrive

This episode also includes highlights from the official opening of Thrive, featuring remarks from the Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Employment and reactions from Meath‑based businesses benefiting from this new centre.

Why Listen

If you’re a business owner, creative, food producer, investor or simply curious about how Meath is shaping its economic future, this episode offers practical insights, real stories, and a behind‑the‑scenes look at the county’s newest engine for growth.

Thrive is where services meet strategy — and where enterprise in Meath is being future‑proofed.

Being emergency-ready is a priority for Meath County Council. In this episode, listeners are encouraged to sign up to MapAlerter.ie to receive free text alerts from the local authority so they too can prepare for adverse weather, possible power outages and other unusual events.

Joining the discussion on being emergency-ready are the Chief Executive of Meath County Council, Kieran Kehoe, the Chief Fire Officer, Sheila Broderick, and the Civil Defence Officer, Shane Quinn. We hear about their respective roles, their responsibilities, and how they work together, and they share important advice so listeners can be as prepared as possible for emergencies.

Keith Leonard, National Director for Fire & Emergency Management, outlines the national perspective, including how they work with local authorities during emergencies.

The role of members in the community is also emphasised and a Civil Defence volunteer talks about how he changed career, and met his future wife, as a result of joining the organisation.

THINGS WE SPOKE ABOUT

National emergency preparedness framework defined.
Climate adaptation for local authority response.
Council's speedy, local-knowledge crisis management.
Community response centres support vulnerable people.
Civil Defence's role and volunteer career change.

QUOTES

"The action happens through the local authorities. They lead at a local level." - Keith Leonard
"We are the principal response agency for severe weather across the country." - Kieran Kehoe
"If you do have a monitored alarm to make sure that you provide a number that you could be contacted on..." - Sheila Broderick
"One of the things that that happens in an event, is that we set up what we call a severe weather assessment team initially, but then when we get into that major emergency mode or there's a severe event, we have a crisis management team." - Kieran Kehoe
"We would advise people to keep some ascent to keep some essentials in the home, really about two to three days supply, just drinking water." - Sheila Broderick

MORE INFORMATION

Local government affects almost every aspect of our daily lives, yet many remain unsure how decisions are actually made. We dive into the delivery of over one thousand services and the vital role of your elected representatives. Discover how local democracy functions behind the scenes in Meath. Listen to the full episode. Search “Local Lens” on your podcast app now.

Visit our website; meath.ie

This podcast was produced by dustpod.io

KEYWORDS

#EmergencyPreparedness #MeathCountyCouncil #CivilDefence #FireSafety #ClimateAdaptation