GREY POWER:THEY COMMAND 17 per cent of the vote. They take to the streets with gusto and heckle politicians at public meetings.
They are the over-65s. Traditionally viewed as loyal or docile party followers, their image has undergone a transformation since last October’s medical card debacle.
“The old habit of conforming is going to die now. I hope and pray that it will,” says Mark Kennedy (72) from Galway.
“People are going to stop having their politics done for them.”
Mr Kennedy, whose family for three generations have been die-hard Fianna Fáilers, briefly contemplated running in the local elections either for the new Seniors Solidarity Party or as an independent. He decided against, reasoning that the real power was held by county and city managers and the Civil Service.
Nothing would surprise him in this election, he said, as it was extremely difficult to read the mood of the people.
“I am beginning to detect that they want to wake up but don’t quite know how to do it. It’s a wakening up from apathy to God knows what,” he adds.
“I can see the vote going in every direction except towards the present Government. They’ve made too many bloomers,” says Nick Corish (84), Clontarf, Dublin.
He was at the protest meeting in St Andrew’s Church in Westland Row against the Government’s withdrawal of an automatic medical card entitlement for the over-70s, and was a key figure in whipping up outrage in the crowd. “I just said, ‘let’s have some anger’. A bit of anger is no harm at all.”
He said traditional voting patterns would go out the window in these elections because of issues ranging from the medical card to class sizes. Not surprisingly, given his name, Mr Corish has never voted for Fianna Fáil in his life and he said he would be giving politicians a tough time when they called to his door.
“I will quiz them about what has happened and will be looking for straight answers, which of course you never get.”
The medical card debacle led John Wolfe (71) to form the Seniors Solidarity Party. He was part of the medical card protest outside the Dáil and said this issue had changed everything.
“What happened last year was unbelievable. The anger is actually palpable out there. Fianna Fáil is going to get a drubbing.”
Mr Wolfe was active in Fianna Fáil but left when he became disenchanted with the party in the 1980s.
His party slogan is “defending senior citizens’ rights” and he has been canvassing since January to win a seat on Fingal County Council.
But he will face an uphill battle with 12 candidates expected to fight for five seats in the redrawn Malahide/Howth ward.
“I’m getting fantastic support on the ground,” he said. “And it’s support from a cross-section of people.”
He has been highlighting issues ranging from free parking at hospitals to education for older people.
He has the benefit of having an identical twin, Gerry, a former GAA star, canvassing for him. Another familiar face on his canvass is the showband singer Seán Dunphy.
Mr Wolfe is the only Seniors Solidarity Party member running this time but expects there will be many more candidates come the next general election.
Age Action Ireland is a non-political group so it cannot endorse any particular candidate but its spokesman Eamon Timmins said it could only be a positive thing that people such as Mr Wolfe were putting themselves forward for election.
He said the over-65 age group was a powerful cohort because, while it only accounted for 11 per cent of the population, it made up 17 per cent of the electorate.
“We know that older people vote in big numbers. In excess of 80 per cent of them vote, compared with 40 per cent of the 18-25-year-old age group. When you combine these two facts, that’s a considerable force to be reckoned with.”
