The most ambitious study of ageing ever undertaken in Ireland was launched today in Trinity College Dublin by the Minister for Health. The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) has been made possible through a €4 million research donation from Irish Life and a contribution from The Atlantic Philantrophies.

There was some pre-launch positive press. Mark Rodden had a piece in the Irish Times last Thursday. That is at it should be. TILDA is a signficant development for all sorts of reasons. The research itself will study 10,000 people over a 10-year period, and consider the biological, psychological, social and economic factors which determine successful ageing in today’s Ireland. It will be muti-disciplinary and inter-institutional. At its conclusion, it will provide information to policy makers and practitioners in health, social care, transport, pensions and the voluntary sector. And its funding (from Irish Life, and AP, among others) is an excellent example of the way in which research in Irish universities will increasingly be financed.

Update on 7 November 2007: The post-launch press has also been positive: Alison Healy has an appreciative piece in the Irish Times.