Healthy Ireland, A Framework for Improved Health and Wellbeing 2013–2025, is the national framework for action to improve the health and wellbeing of the people in Ireland. Healthy Ireland was developed in response to several significant public health challenges, including significant projected increases in levels of preventable chronic disease and growing heath inequalities.

The Vision for a Healthy Ireland and Healthy Monaghan is “Where everyone can enjoy physical and mental health and wellbeing to their full potential, where wellbeing is valued and supported at every level of society and is everyone’s responsibility.”

Healthy Ireland asserts that population health and wellbeing is critical for our social, economic, and cultural progress, and our overall quality of life. It recognises the requirement for a ‘whole of Government’ approach to addressing the social determinants and predictors of health and wellbeing.

Healthy Ireland also provides for an inclusive, inter-sectoral approach to improve population health and wellbeing by shifting our emphasis to prevention, and to empowering individuals and communities to take more responsibility for their health and wellbeing.

The Local Economic Community Plan (LECP) Framework 2024 – 2029 outlines five high-level goals for the community and economic development of a local authority; one of which is ‘Health and Wellbeing’. The Healthy Ireland Programme is governed locally through the Local Community Development Committee (LCDC) and has an important role in delivering on the goals of the LECP.

The four goals of Healthy Ireland and Healthy Monaghan are:

  • Increase the proportion of people who are healthy at all stages of life.
  • Reduce health inequalities.
  • Protect the public from threats to health and wellbeing.
  • Create an environment where every individual and sector of society can play their part in achieving a Healthy Ireland and Healthy Monaghan.

The Healthy Ireland Fund is now in Round Four of the programme and the objective of the HIF 2023–2025 is to improve the health and wellbeing of people of all ages and abilities living in Ireland through the implementation of the Healthy Ireland Strategic Action Plan 2021–2025.

For Healthy Ireland Round Four funding, local authorities were required to focus on two of the twenty-seven programme-level Healthy Ireland Outcome Indicators. Following an extensive public and stakeholder consultation and research process in late 2022, the following two indicators were agreed upon for Healthy Monaghan to focus on with the Round Four funding:

  • Increase in % of adults & children meeting physical activity guidelines.
  • Decrease in no. of people showing negative mental health as per Mental Health Index-5 over past 4 weeks.

All initiatives and activities being delivered locally through the HIF throughout the period of 2023-2025 are being done to achieve both these indicators.

To find out further information about Healthy Ireland programmes visit https://hilocalgov.ie/ or follow Healthy Monaghan on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/HealthyMonaghan