THE CAMPAIGN against the withdrawal of automatic entitlement to a medical card for the over-70s is not going to go away, according to members of Limerick’s elderly community who staged a protest in the city at the weekend.
Up to 200 people of all ages braved appalling weather conditions to support Saturday’s march from O’Connell Avenue.
The protest was organised by 72-year-old Phonsie Franklin and his wife Kathleen (73), from Edward Street in Limerick city. “I organised this protest because I’m angry at what the Government has done and this is the only way we can get back at them. We want everybody over 70 to get a medical card regardless of their circumstances,” said Mr Franklin.
“I don’t belong to any political party and I have no political ambitions whatsoever, not at my age. But when I heard the Government Chief Whip saying they could give the over-70s relief on their mortgages, I just thought, has the man nothing between his ears? How can a person over 70 have a mortgage? We are 50 years paying off our mortgages and if we didn’t have one the banks certainly wouldn’t give us one now,” he added.
In his address to the crowd after the march Mr Franklin vowed to continue his campaign right up to next year’s local elections.
“This is not going to end here. There are still people who won’t get their medical cards and we will continue with our campaign,” he said.
Local TDs including Labour’s Jan O’Sullivan and Fine Gael’s Kieran O’Donnell also addressed the protesters who gathered at Bedford Row after walking in the rain through the city centre.
Limerick’s mayor, Independent Cllr John Gilligan, called on the Fianna Fail party to do the “honourable thing” and reverse the cuts in relations to medical cards for the over-70s.
“These are people who have lived through hard times and people who have pulled this country up by its boot straps and these are people who we should be looking up to, not slapping them down because they were prudent enough to save some money,” said Mayor Gilligan.
“And if they were working and earning a high wage then they paid their taxes.
“The elderly have already paid their share, it’s time we paid them back. We owe them gratitude,” he added.
The absence of Limerick Fianna Fáil TDs, Willie O’Dea, and Peter Power was noted when some protesters began to chant: “Where’s Willie now?”