We learnt it in school: "That is no country for old men. The young; In one another's arms, birds in the trees . . . caught in that sensual music all neglect; Monuments of unaging intellect."The Government would not agree that this is no country for old men. One of the major selling points of the Budget last week was the £5 extra per week to be paid to 270,000 of the roughly 400,000 recipients of state pensions in the state. The contributory state pension is to increase to £83 per week; the non-contributory old age pension to £72.50 power week.It's not a lot of money to live on. We don't really need to look at the Central Statistics Office's average household budget of £312 per week in 1995 to know that. Nor indeed do we need to see that the average household budget in the CSO's lowest bracket was £87 per week - higher than the highest old age pension. The pension doesn't buy much, nor does £5 per week. Two pints; 10p short of six copies of The Irish Times.Still, it would take a pension fund of £170,000 to provide an income of £83 per week, or £6,806 per annum, at an annuity rate of 4 per cent.The reaction from pensioners has been good, it seems. In a general consensus sort of way. For where is the big voice for senior citizens? There is no Peter Cassells nor John Dunne of the old. The first item on the news was not how the spokesman for the powerful lobby representing the senior citizens of Ireland reacted to the £5. There is no such voice.There are almost 414,000 people over the age of 65 in Ireland. Most of the recipients of state pensions are over that age. They outnumber the unemployed, whose INOU struggled to get a seat at the table of social partnership (there is no seat for the old, of course). They outnumber the 246,000 in manufacturing and the 273,000 in commerce and finance. They surely could represent a very potent political force if organised, especially since they tend to vote more than the young. We have not very often seen senior citizens really flex their political muscle. There are organisations such as the National Federation of Pensioners Association and the National Association of Widows. There is now an Irish Senior Citizens National Parliament, organised in 1996 after a European Parliament event. But it is in its infancy, if you pardon the irony.By contrast, in the US, the American Association of Retired Persons, founded in 1958 and now with 32 million members of 50 years and over, is reckoned to be one of the most effective lobby groups over there - and Washington is a very crowded field.It is geared up to deal with apparently every possible concern of older people. There is no such organisation here - yet. Some might think, tenuously, it's because our senior citizens are content with their benefits. But surely the free travel and electricity allowances, phone rental and installation schemes have not made pensioners a contented lot, not inclined towards the rough and tumble of political lobbying.Older people in Ireland are away from the levers of power and the media spotlights. David Andrews, the oldest member of the Cabinet, is a mere 62 years. Garrett Fitzgerald (71) and Conor Cruise O'Brien (80) are rare expectations as elder commentators. We don't seem to have (or want?) many old sages.
Pensioners' parties often dollop up condescension with the banal food. In some areas, we don't even allow old people to work. Are they to be seen and not heard?Not for long. The demographics of the State favour an increase in older people's political activism. Our population bulge is behind America's. The more assertive stand up for your rights and entitlements culture will stay with people as they age.For now, there are instances of effective political action by pensioners' groups, such as the public service pensioners' campaign over parities with special pay awards. So the old can be stirred to action, and some politically assertive action, too, even getting the better of the Department of Finance. The days of the politically feeble old-age pensioner are, I think, numbered.
