Kerry 80-year-old: 'You get the pension on Friday and on Monday there isn’t too much of it left'

Ahead of Budget 2027, Seán Ryan wanted a raise of at least €25 a week for pensioners. A €10 increase was announced 

Sean Ryan receives in the region of €292 a week in state pension payments and other small allowances, such as a payment for fuel. Picture: Chani Anderson

For 80-year-old Seán Ryan, pension day is Friday, but by the following Monday, there is often very little left over.

The retired soldier and stonemason lives alone in a local authority house in Milltown, Killarney, Co Kerry, where he has resided for around 30 years.

Mr Ryan receives in the region of €292 a week in state pension payments and other small allowances, such as a payment for fuel. He does not receive an army pension, having left the Defence Forces before completing the service required to qualify.

He said the weekly payment is increasingly difficult to stretch across the cost of living and other essentials.

“Heating, electricity, shopping, cleaning, toiletries, you basically get the pension on Friday and on Monday there isn’t too much of it left,” he said.

Ahead of the budget, he said he wanted an increase of at least €25 a week for pensioners. A €10 across-the-board increase in social welfare rates was announced, including pensions.

Mr Ryan never married and has no children. He spent 18 years in the army, including service during the Troubles in the North and several trips to Lebanon.

He later became a stonemason, working through FÁS and community schemes and spending years building stone walls. “It came naturally to me,” he said of the physical work.

“It kept me busy and active for a long time. I did a FÁS course, and that was it.”

Mr Ryan is now recovering from a hip operation and has not yet returned to full fitness after his hip dislocated during the first week after he came home from hospital. The rising cost of living has also changed how he spends his free time.

“I used to enjoy going to the pub for a few pints or going in to see a football match, but that’s all gone now. You couldn’t spend the money on pints, they are too dear, and most of my friends are all gone now, so I just buy myself a bottle of wine, and go home and watch TV.

“Sometimes I might go for a pint on a Friday, but I can’t really afford it, and everyone in the pub now is on their phone. You don’t get much chat. I do go to my local shop and have a chat along the way. I like meeting the locals, and I have my bus pass too.”

While he wanted to see the €25 increase in social welfare for pensioners, Mr Ryan said he was most worried about the loss of companionship among older people.

“The days of going to the house and visiting people, they’re not there anymore. It’s all phones and social media, I think it’s bad.”

Mr Ryan remains connected to his community through the Meals on Wheels service, which he describes as a “great help”.

“They are very good to me. They always look out for me. They’re brilliant,” he said.

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He also engages with the charity Alone and said he would be “lost without them”.

“They check in on me, they are a great service,” he added.

He believes that staying connected to the community and local organisations is important for both body and mind.

For a man who spent much of his life working, serving in the army, and building stone walls, his concerns now are very simple: He would like to have enough money to heat his home, buy his food, and retain some independence.

“Older people living alone, especially, should not be forgotten,” he said.