corporatist influences. Due to this influence, during the late 1950s Loftus flirted with the hard-right "National Action" organisation, a group that advocated for "vocationalism", the localised Irish term for corporatism. In 1961, Loftus founded the Christian Democrat Party of Ireland and stood for election to Dáil Éireann at the 1961 general election in the Dublin North-East constituency, the first of sixteen attempts. Although the party would exist for two decades, the Christian Democrat Party of Ireland struggled to register themselves on Ireland's official register of political parties and fought numerous court cases to achieve this. However, they were unsuccessful and partially because of this, the party never became any grander than a nexus of Rockall supporters. In 1972 the Dublin Port and Docks Board proposed the building of an oil refinery in Dublin Bay. The plan was vigorously opposed by environmentalists, including Loftus, on the grounds that it posed a serious risk of pollution. Despite the motion having the support of larger political groups, such as Official Sinn Féin, the planned oil refinery was eventually rejected in 1976 thanks in part to Loftus bringing a bucket of polluted water from the bay to a public inquiry. At the 1973 general election, Loftus stood for election to the Dáil in the Dublin North-Central constituency as a Christian Democrat on the issue of Dublin Bay. Because the party was too small to be registered under the 1963 Electoral Act, meaning Loftus would be listed as 'Independent', he changed his name by deed poll to Seán D. Christian Democrat Dublin Bay Loftus in order that his political affiliation and campaign issue would appear on the ballot paper. Although not elected, he succeeded in highlighting the issue and the proposal was eventually turned down by the Minister for Local Government, James Tully. With the momentum from his campaign against the Dublin Bay oil refinery building, Loftus was elected to Dublin Corporation in 1974. In the following years Loftus changed his name by deed poll several times more, to "Seán Dublin Bay Loftus", "Seán Dublin Bay Rockall Loftus" (as part of a campaign to press the Irish Government to make a territorial claim to the Rockall islet off the coast of County Donegal) and "Seán Alderman Dublin Bay Rockall Loftus", among others. It was under this last name that he was finally elected to the 22nd Dáil for the Dublin North-East constituency at the 1981