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Press Release: Thursday 11 June 2026<\/p>\n
All Ireland Social Prescribing Conference brings North and South together in Dundalk<\/p>\n
The All\u2011Ireland Social Prescribing Network (AISPN) will host a two\u2011day All\u2011Ireland Social Prescribing Conference at the Fairways Hotel, Dundalk, on 11\u201312 June 2026, which will be officially opened by Minister of State Jennifer Murnane O\u2019Connor TD, bringing together recipients, practitioners, researchers, policymakers, community organisations and health leaders from the North and South of Ireland.<\/p>\n
Social prescribing is a community-based, non-medical approach that supports physical, mental and social wellbeing by linking people with local activities, groups and supports in their communities.<\/p>\n
The conference will focus on the future development of social prescribing across the island of Ireland, at a time when demand is growing in response to loneliness, mental ill-health, long-term conditions and pressure on primary care.<\/p>\n
The All-Ireland Social Prescribing Network (AISPN) is an all-island network that connects social prescribing policy, practice and research. Established in 2017, AISPN brings together practitioners, community and voluntary organisations, academics and health system leaders to advance social prescribing as a core approach to prevention, social inclusion and wellbeing.<\/p>\n
Minister of State Jennifer Murnane O\u2019Connor TD is officially opening the conference and said:<\/p>\n
\u201cSocial prescribing shows what is possible when communities, voluntary organisations and our health services work together. By connecting people with local supports, we can reduce loneliness, improve wellbeing and help people to stay well closer to home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marianna Quinn from South Armagh, representing social prescribing recipients said:<\/p>\n
\u201cSocial prescribing has completely changed my life. Before, I felt very alone and didn\u2019t know where to turn. Being linked in through social prescribing helped me find local groups, build my confidence and feel part of my community again. It has opened doors to new opportunities I never imagined.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anne O\u2019Connor, CEO of the HSE, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cSocial prescribing is based on the principle of addressing \u2018what matters to the person\u2019 rather than \u2018what\u2019s the matter with them\u2019. It is a person-centred approach that brings together health services, communities and the many voluntary and community organisations that help deliver this support, linking people with local activities, groups and services that can make a real difference to their health and wellbeing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other conference highlights will include findings from the HSE Realist Evaluation of Social Prescribing in Ireland, sessions on children and youth social prescribing, practice development, building the evidence base, cost effectiveness and social return on investment, and a presentation on the Arts Council\u2019s Arts and Social Prescribing report. The conference will also include discussion of AISPN\u2019s proposal for an All-Ireland School of Social Prescribing, designed to provide leadership, learning and evidence infrastructure for social prescribing across the island.<\/p>\n
Professor Deirdre Connolly, Co-Chair of AISPN, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cThis conference is an important opportunity to bring together learning from North and South, strengthen collaboration, and build momentum for the next stage of social prescribing development across the island.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Press Release: Thursday 11 June 2026 All Ireland Social Prescribing Conference brings North and South together in Dundalk…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":494107,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-494106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=494106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494106\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/494107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=494106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=494106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=494106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}