Minister Frank Feighan launches initiative aiming to improve the health and wellbeing of all in County Wexford

Minister Frank Feighan, Minister of State with responsibility for Public Health, Wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy attended the Irish National Heritage Park today to formally launch Healthy Wexford. The launch was streamed via an open access link to an online audience meaning all could attend virtually, and included the launch of the Healthy Wexford County Plan 2020-2022, and celebration of Wexford joining the National Healthy Cities & Counties of Ireland Network.

The Vision for a Healthy Wexford 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. In delivering this vision, Wexford replicates and localises the goals of Healthy Ireland, the national health and wellbeing framework. Speaking at today’s launch Minister Feighan highlighted that the Healthy Wexford County Plan 2020-2022 will support the implementation of Healthy Ireland, the national health and wellbeing framework, at a local level, to improve the health and wellbeing of all in County Wexford. Membership of the National Healthy Cities & Counties of Ireland Network will also further support this activity and provides a means of where local issues can influence national policy.

Minister Feighan said:

“At Healthy Ireland we want to ensure that everyone gets the opportunity to live a long, happy and healthy life. We want to empower every person to improve their own health and wellbeing, but to do that we need to support them to make healthy choices. We need to make the healthy choice the easy choice. To achieve this, we need every individual and sector of society to play their part. This requires activating our communities and empowering them to cultivate change. This new Healthy Wexford County Plan shows the commitment to making that happen in the County.“

With 23 actions set around 6 strategic priorities, such as Physical Activity, Healthy weight, Mental Health and Sexual Health, this plan is a roadmap to improving the health and wellbeing of the people in this area.”

Following the launch Minister Feighan continued to Tintern Woods to visit the Woodlands for Health Programme, providing an opportunity to see a collaborative programme in action.

At the launch Cllr John Hegarty, Chair of the Healthy County Committee, highlighted Healthy Wexford as the structure that connects and highlights all of the great work that that is already happening, and encourages the partnerships and collaboration for future developments. He said

‘Healthy Wexford is about thinking and working differently, and seeing health and wellbeing as a focus in all that we do’.

Cllr Hegarty highlighted the collaborative nature of the initiative and the need for all to work together and play our part in delivering a Healthy Wexford.

Cathaoirleach of Wexford County Council, Cllr. Ger Carthy, highlighted that many of the determinants of health such as where we live, work, play, and age are outside of the direct influence of health and social services. However, the Local Authority touches the lives of our citizens in many of these areas each day. Therefore, Wexford County Council is uniquely placed to assist in delivering the vision for Healthy Wexford, in collaboration with agencies and communities across County Wexford.

To find out more about Healthy Wexford see https://www.wexfordcoco.ie/community/healthy-wexford