European Neighbours Day gather 12 million

The organisers of European Neighbours Day are gathering 12 million people across the region to build community and beat isolation.

Barbeques, quizzes, and face painting events are being organised in social housing areas of Cork, Kildare, Dublin, Meath and Louth.

"Neighbourhoods have been underestimated in recent years," said the executive director of Irish Council of Social Housing Donal McManus.

"In the time of the boom there was more emphasis on building large numbers of house and less on creating stable communities

"New neighbourhoods react as a catalyst to encourage neighbours of different backgrounds to work together."