John Wolfe thought his political days were behind him. The fresh-faced 71-year-old from Malahide was active in Fianna Fáil in the 1970s and 1980s but says he resigned in 1981 over alleged corruption within the party.

Since then he’s lived an active life, running a B&B with his wife and children. Then, last autumn a different outrage brought him full circle. “When they announced the medical card withdrawal for over-70s, I felt a call to patriotic action,” he says.

Wolfe realised he could no longer sit idly by and watch the Government strip away vulnerable pensioners’ entitlements and dignity.

Laying down the law
The former bricklayer, who studied European Union Law at DIT Aungier Street as a pensioner, felt their action was illegal. “I wrote a letter that night and said I would challenge the Government in the High Court for breach of contract. They offered the medical card and it was accepted and then withdrawn.”

The Government never replied or acknowledged the letter so Wolfe – who looks like Kirk Douglas in some photographs – took to the airwaves to outline the legal case. RTÉ’s Liveline show, hosted by Joe Duffy, received calls from around the world, including Singapore, says Wolfe. The late actress Anna Manahan also supported his cause.

Getting political
But that wasn’t the end of it. Wolfe felt the only way to make a change was to embrace politics again. This time he would do it his own way. Last April, he set up the Senior Solidarity Party.

It is the 16th political party to register in Dáil Éireann. It’s symbolised by an acorn and an oak tree. “We’ve planted the acorn and votes will see the oak tree grow tall. You should judge your country by the way you treat your senior citizens.

“We’re the generation who gave so much to this country and created the basis of the Celtic Tiger. We went through the dark times of mass unemployment and emigration. We’ve done the State some service.”

Vulnerable older people are paying too high a price during the last decades of their lives. “Nursing homes cost an average of €1,300 a week. Over four years, that’s more than €250,000. Older people don’t want to see their children’s inheritance taken by the State. In Scotland they have free nursing-home care.”

The pensioner will challenge candidates in the Howth/Malahide ward during this summer’s local elections and plans to directly target Fianna Fáil and Green Party seats.

Uniting the generations
Wolfe is keen to emphasise that it’s not a one-issue party. The organisation is interested in many areas that affect the entire society – governance, healthcare and education.

We all have families and friends of different ages, he says. “The repossession of houses may affect our sons and daughters, and our grandchildren are being subjected to large class sizes.”

Party objectives

• The right to a medical card for all those over 70 whose circumstances require it, regardless of income
• The promotion of senior citizens and retired people’s rights in all areas but especially health, education and facilities for voting
• Ending all discrimination against senior citizens
• An Ombudsman for senior citizens (needed after Lea’s Cross case)
• 100 per cent grant for home insulation
• Free parking at all hospitals
• Mandatory testing of all patients for MRSA when they enter hospitals and nursing homes, not afterwards
• Free education for all senior citizens
• Reducing Dáil to 34 seats
• The abolition of the Seanad
• No junior ministers