Residents in Sallins, Co Kildare have been designated as living in the country's first "age friendly housing estate" by an organisation which supports and promotes older people in the community.
As part of the project, improvements were made to the footpaths, lighting and the communal spaces.
Built in the 1990s, Castlefen has recently, residents say, undergone some subtle but significant changes.
There are new communal spaces, resurfaced footpaths and bigger car parking spaces; all done to make it easier for older people in the area to live and get around.
The multi-agency project, involving the Age Friendly Alliance and Kildare County Council, was driven by the residents, including Ashling Doran.
"The need for it really was, we noticed that we have a lot of older people here and we're not getting any younger," she said.
"We thought to make everybody's life easier, and it has made a serious amount of lives easier."
"It looks clean and nice, it's improved the place no end," said Francie Connolly, who has been living in the local authority estate for 20 years.
"It's wonderful... All the bad days are behind us. At the moment, things are very good. The place looks very well and it's a nice place to live, that's more important than anything," Mr Connolly said.
The works carried out also had some other knock-on benefits.
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"Almost overnight" there was a decrease in anti-social behaviour, according to the Age Friendly project manager with Kildare County Council.
She added: "There would have been a lot of agencies that would have flagged here, and people would have known it as prone to a little bit of anti-social behaviour.
"But with the ‘Age Friendly’ process, and the residents coming on board, everyone bought into the process... So, from a State management perspective, it really is a good opportunity to do something positive.
"If you involve the young people in the process and create that sense of inter-generational project in the estate, it has a lasting impact," Ms Cashin said.
The new designation has revitalised this housing estate in Kildare, according to residents.
