The Politics of Old Age: Older People's Interest Organisations and Collective Action in Ireland by Martha Doyle

Author:Martha Doyle [Doyle, Martha]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Public Policy, Family & Relationships, Social Science, Political Science, Eldercare, General, Gerontology
ISBN: 9781847799845
Google: Oma5DwAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 22895591
Publisher: Manchester University Press
Published: 2015-01-13T00:00:00+00:00

The specificity and limits of political activism: the medical card protests

The notion of entitlement as discussed above was invoked following the government’s announcement that it would end universality of the medical card in Budget 2009 (see Chapter 1). According to participants, older people had earned the right to the medical card and the government’s decision to end universality threatened their sense of personal security. Statements made in the interviews suggest that the groundswell of anger following the government announcement emerged from the general public rather than from the actions of the interest organisations. While the directors and members could not claim to have aroused the palpable anger and frustration among the over-70s population, they did seek to be a conduit of this anger by providing formal structures to channel the frustration of both members and non-members alike. As one focus group attendee stated, ‘it was a spontaneous thing, we didn’t even contact our federation of associations, we didn’t have to, it was spontaneous’.

Organising public demonstrations was a tactic used infrequently by the interest groups, but took on important significance after the government’s announcement that it would end universal availability of the medical card. Due to the unprecedented public outrage two of the organisations decided to hold public demonstrations, to which they invited public representatives to address attendees. On 21 October 2008 Age Action Ireland, anticipating an attendance of 300 people, scheduled a meeting at O’Callaghan Alexander Hotel in Dublin city centre but, due to an unexpectedly high turnout, moved the venue to Saint Patrick’s Church, where almost 2,000 attended the event. The following day, the Senior Citizens’ Parliament organised a demonstration rally outside the government buildings on Kildare Street with an attendance of approximately 15,000 people.

While Age Action Ireland and the Senior Citizens’ Parliament were to the forefront of the campaign, other organisations took an active role in rousing members and eliciting their participation at the public demonstrations. Respondents relayed how they received calls from members calling for the organisation to become politicised and actively involved in the protest. The organisations made concerted efforts to get their members to attend one of the two public demonstrations. Activities included scheduling local meetings, coordinating travel arrangements for members, petitioning local politicians collectively and partaking in national and local radio interviews. The communication effort involved in the pre-organisation of the events spanned a number of days. Local networks were utilised to facilitate the mobilisation of older people to attend the protest demonstration.

The large numbers of attendees at the protest march were not anticipated. It revealed how unaffiliated and perhaps formerly apolitical older people could join in solidarity to demonstrate against the government. It also highlighted the ability of older people’s organisations to collaborate successfully. The significance of this was expressed by a number of research participants, including a committee member who stated, ‘it was a watershed, because it unified all the groups on an issue’ and another who noted that ‘there wasn’t a political division, it was political unification’.

The participation of formerly apolitical

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