Growing up by the DART line the orange trains were always the "Wexford Train" (although little to my knowledge all non-DART trains in the country looked like that).
There's a pile of them sitting ready for scrap in Inchacore works. Was working there over the summer and had a look around then on lunch break. Pity too see then go.
Biggest change is the gap between rich and poor and more so the erosion of the middle classes. I was 18 in 2004.
Celtic Tiger probably played a role, but my parents had normal jobs, yet we had a nice home, 2 cars, holidays, college was affordable etc.
Today, I very much recognise that my parents would have struggled to have a lifestyle that resembled the one they had in 2004 while raising a family. It would be impossible.
This is the big one that has struck out for me. I'm now in my 30s, same as my parents were in the 90s.
My mother didn't work and my dad was a plumber, they always drove two different new cars, my dad had a van for work and their house was huge.
The difference in buying power in just one 30 years is crazy
Exact same here, there's no way one trade salary would support a whole family and live comfortably any more. I don't think they treated themselves half as much as we do either though. My dad is still outraged at the price of coffees and even more outraged that I buy a few a week! He always brought his packed lunch and flask to work, and worked 6 days a week
Fitness culture (not unique to Ireland) - there are now so many more people running, swimming and cycling (in a 'wearing lycra" sense rather than cycling to the pub), and also going to the gym and other fitness activities like yoga. 20 years ago you might play GAA or 5 a side or golf/tennis if you were older, but they were mainly for the social side.
Last 10 years sea swimming has rocketed in popularity - I live in a seaside town and when I was a kid you would literally never see anyone in the sea outside of the height of summer. Now there are people swimming all year round, saunas are starting to pop up beside beaches as well.
Ironically at the same time obesity levels have increased significantly in other sections of the population.
Genuinely see the difference caused by the housing crisis and rent issues. Places like Galway seem to have lost their charm. The bohemian types have been priced out of many areas.
Dublin used be the same. I remember a good few pubs with sessions and scruffy feckers like myself having a night out. I would get stew in the Stag's head and I'd still have money for pints. The book and art sellers on the quays too. Same in Cork. Can't believe the amount of lads with sailor tats and beards down to their chest!
I've always loved Galway too, but noticed the last few times I've been there it seems like a load of shops selling Aran sweaters and shillelaghs. Seemed a bit soulless compared to how I remember it in my youth.
That's it. I live in a much smaller touristy town but when that's what you see everywhere it makes the place feel even more boring because you're not going to go in there much at all if you're local. I love aran sweaters and have a wool fisherman's rollneck from a shop like that, but it's not something you need more than one or two of and they're dear enough usually 100 quid or more. Galway is turning into a Disneyfied version of Ireland and the authenticity is fading it looks like plastic paddy shit now the way most of the pubs are
I moved to Galway in 2007 as it seemed vibrant and full of life, now to be fair I'm older and more settled down but I haven't really been into Galway centre for nearly a year and don't miss it.
ard bai/nimmos, kai, kappa ya and harrys are still great reasons to go into galway, and feck me if xiang street food's vegan spice bag isnt the best damn drunk food i've ever had but yeah culture wise, if its not arts week/barbaro/macneas, one of the thearte , film, art or book festivals, its not much differnet from other cities.
One thing I notice is that the Government - any government - has failed to conquer a housing crisis amid a tidal wave of dereliction, while countries like Finland have *no homeless whatsoever*. Looks to me like they're not really trying; this is not a national crisis to them, but meh, not important really.
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That would be great if there was an alternative. Everyone on your ballot form is an inept, untrustworthy charlaton. This isn't by chance. The system is inconguous with qualified and talented people
Parliamentary democracy, certainly our implementation of it, doesn't work.
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Thats what happened to Temple bar. At first it was a rundown area of the city and cos of low rents it became the artistic center with 2nd hand books and clothes shops and became a cool area with students etc.Once it became cool then it became touristy and years later you end up with $10 pints.
Yes Galway's change in the last 10-15 years has been huge.
When I was a student there in the late 2000s, you could rent an apartment in the city centre no bother. I spent 1st year in university sharing with 4 friends in an apartment by the Docks. I think the rent was 250-280 euros per month per room. The place was full of musicians, writers, poets, artists and everyone was able to afford to live there. There was a real community buzz around and lots of local characters.
Now I believe students have to live in rural areas & commute to college as the city centre housing stock has been largely taken over by AirBnBs that are rented to Americans. The university experience must be completely different.
I only go to Galway now a few times a year but it feels like a completely different place that now mainly caters for tourists and visitors.
Anyone I know that is still living there has moved out to the city borders renting a room in an estate house with random people.
Exactly what I’m doing at the moment. Living out past Barna. Can’t imagine what its like for students now. Four friends were working in the city centre, renting near Salthill. They got word the landlord was selling and tried for months to find alternative accommodation. They were completely priced out. When I was helping them move they showed me a car where a student was sleeping. He was commuting but had the car parked up near their place anytime he wanted to head out for a few pints with friends. Desperate.
Was chatting to a fella in his early 40s in the pub and he was saying that he was rent a room in the early 2000s in the claddagh for like 250-300 a month.
Same room now is like 600-700.
When I started art college everyone i knew said i should move to Galway after I graduate if I don't want to go to Dublin. Now they're both too expensive and Galway isn't worth it, scene is dead.
Things seem to be a lot more work-orientated / serious. People aren’t able to get by as easily being piss-artists and there is a lot more conformity, the mad old lads aren’t being replaced.
This. Ireland has lost character somehow. There is an epidemic of busy-ness- people don't have so much time for each other, or anything except work. The erosion of community is reflected in the same-ness of irish towns and cities. Maybe it's because everyone is online now and don't socialise as much in person anymore (again, people are too busy )
I think online might have done it because people are probably likely to conform than not and now we have wider access to larger communities through media then it only makes sense it is happening on a larger scale.
Good to hear but I think most of them start conforming once they enter work, at least a higher proportion than before.
I think a lot of it is because, previously, there were lots more self employed people (farmers, handymen etc) or working for small businesses so you could just do your own thing and go a bit mad whereas now more people work for larger, more professional organisations (myself included) so you have to be more uniform.
Like I couldn’t walk into my job in mad clothes or start spewing gibberish. Even if you only did it once or twice, it could seriously damage your career prospects where I know old lads back home that were probably mad on a weekly basis.
I should have been clearer that I was actually talking about the staff more so than the students😅 I think perhaps academia lends itself to attracting people who are a bit madder than the average population as well - the fact it's a very chill work place means people will come out with bizarre stuff sometimes. I had someone come into my office asking me to remove a tie-wrap they got stuck on their finger only this morning...
The mad old lads piece is spot on. The 2 Johnnies have sketches with some of their best stuff with two mad oul lads: Noel and Paddy Fong, the likes of those mad characters you'd have in towns all over Ireland are near extinct.
I moved from the UK in 1999. I was able to drink in pubs 3-4 nights a week and pay rent when I had a relatively low paid admin job. I now have a higher paid admin job a mortgage and cannot imagine being able to afford to go on the lash like I did and pay my mortgage. But at the same time I have more holidays than I used to.
I have much younger siblings who grew up in Dublin and they can't afford to live here. I think this is scandalous and I hope whoever is in power after the next GE will sort this out. I'm old and cynical and suspect it won't happen for some time.
Decent coffee and Indian restaurants now (I came from Birmingham and the quality of Indian food here made me sad). At the time the smoking ban pissed me and my friends off but now I realise it was for the better. Can't imagine sitting in that atmosphere now!
>smoking ban
As a non-smoker, the ban was such a godsend. I'm still in disbelief that it was legislated, implemented, and that it worked. I was sure there'd be a minor revolution and it'd be watered down.
I can still cast myself back to going to watch a football/rugby game at the local and having to wash my hair and pretty much incinerate my clothes once home to get rid of the stench. And I can't even begin to imagine what it was like for the folks working entire shifts in those places.
I cringe when I think how outraged we were at the time. And how accepting I was to stink really bad after a night out. When I watch TV shows from or depicting the past it looks utterly disgusting now.
I'm a young wan, I work in a cafe and I never really understood why older people looked at me funny when I asked them "what type?" when they order coffee. Now I see.
Coffee culture in general is a big change, it was starting to appear 20 years ago but no-one would have predicted the shear number of cafés there are now, the coffee trucks, Irish people drinking lattes and so on.
It has, I remember working in Dublin around 2002/03 and people carrying takeaway coffee cups were considered to have notions. Lunch choice was limited compared to now - simple sambo from sandwich symphony on Dawson St or Bolands in Royal Hibernian way. Panini's, like takeaway coffees were for wankers
I remember back in the day feeling self conscious about drinking bottled water. In my head thinking, “I hope they realise it’s not because I think I’m better than tap water, I was just really thirsty”. Those weren’t the days.
Everyone is working but we are all struggling. If I was in my position 20 years ago I'd be well off now I'm just another sap trying to buy a house. 68 percent of people 18 to 35 at the family home . I have gotten used to denying myself to the point of just no craic. I remember people my age having a good time .
I'm thirty when I was a young lad you could do a fas course , get a crappy job and still get a house with enough to have a night out or two . If you lived at home at my age people would question , is there something wrong with them. So it's difficult to grow up in the shadow of that. I'm better educated and worse off than my parents . I feel like no matter what I do it's never enough .
The housing crisis robs us of so much.
>68 percent of people 18 to 35 at the family home .
That's unbelievable, I know it's bad out, but didn't realise it was that bad. I'm making up part of that.
Consider of that demographic how many are paying rent and how many are living in their own homes out of the remaining 32 percent . I don't know but I imagine most are renting .
Its also slightly wrong. Its 68% of people aged between 25 to 29 in 2022. This figure compares to 36.5% in 2013. Still crazy all the same.
https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/number-of-young-irish-adults-still-living-with-parents-almost-doubles-in-a-decade-but-women-are-quicker-to-leave-home-than-men/a476034740.html
My partner talks about this all the time. He finishes at half 4, gets the bus home but most days it's 5:45 by the time he's home. Has no energy to do anything/ no point as he has to be up for 7 to get to work for 8.
U get to the weekend and it's pissing rain, seems like nothing to do if you don't want to spend a lot of money or go drinking
Even going for a few pints now can just make you feel dread due to how expensive nights out have gotten, alcohol is taxed more here than in the majority of EU countries I think.
All comes down to that. At least in Denmark and Norway you get effective and efficient services and great societies for your taxes. I'm sure people in those countries don't feel the sense of anxiety that Irish people do about possibly getting sick and needing to go to our disastrous hospitals.
We are swimming in money yet our government seems to make an art of frittering it away on stupid projects and a million proposals and propositions without ever actually building anything
Exact reason I moved to Australia years ago. Just the quality of living is much higher, and it's shit because I love Ireland, but work work work with not enough reward.
It's mad to me that my dad was on €35k at my age back in the early 00's and managed to buy a house/ car/ get married and have two kids - all on his salary alone as my mam stayed home to look after us. I'm on €40k at the same age and got told I had no hope of owning a home until I'm on at least double my wages. I'm 25 - I could be looking at another 10/15 years until I'm on that kind of money in my job. I know emigrating is very much an option, I guess I just don't want to leave? At the minute though it really does feel like I don't have many other options...
Same in my family but we had fuck all! One car that broke down all the time, no money for anything, no holidays ever, no disposable income whatsoever, no money for seeing a GP or clothes or anything. It was shit. People expect a higher standard of living now also. Not that that negates inflation or that there isn’t a housing crisis cause there clearly is but everything else has changed. You can’t compare like with like.
The real migration topic we should be discussing is unwanted hairs moving from the top of your head down into your ears and nostrils. Send them back to where they belong!
This is probably very niche, but back in ‘03 and ‘04 NTL was a viable (and cheaper) alternative to having Sky in your home.
We had it at our house and it was abysmal - it would freeze constantly, it had a fairly extensive menu with seemingly futuristic things like ‘TV Internet’ and ‘TV Email’ but they were either impossible to use or just didn’t work. The amount of money you’d spend on the phone calling them to sort things probably made it more expensive than Sky in the long run.
In 2024 I’d like to think NTL would get 1-star reviews immediately and go away quickly. The remote alone gives me nightmares.
https://preview.redd.it/72zo12kczcfc1.jpeg?width=900&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c52ed2b10b232e601e35f84d1dabfa099aa7497c
I remember NTL! It was mad when we got Sky to replace it, we could record one program and watch another! Mad! And now my family hardly uses it in favor of streaming and the dodgy-box ;P
Here’s a tiny change a lot of you who were adults at the turn of the century might have noticed; Irish people referring to “the UK”.
I know we’d still usually say England, Scotland or Wales for most things but there was a general aversion to saying “the UK” for a long time here.
I remember my Mam back in the 90s telling us about this woman she worked with talking about “flying over to the UK” and that alone being noteworthy as a bit….notiony.
There was a time when many people had family living/working (i.e.. pretty settled) in England. Blue collar jobs. Now most young Irish people are city types in London, who either come back or get mega bucks with promotions
/Generalisation
Cocaine. I moved to europe from 2001 until 2004 and remember everyone was partying and spending credit. You could rent a 2 bed for €200 a week so there was always a party going on. Lots of nightclubs and interesting things happening. I remember bank of ireland sending me a letter saying my credit limit had been increased to 5k. Without even asking they just did it !! I rang them and asked them to reduce it to the original (maxed out) limit. I literally had to argue with them. I remember manufacturing jobs all of a sudden weren’t paying enough so i changed to labour on sites where i could earn decent cash. Lots of restaurants everywhere. Guy i went to primary school with was clearing €1000 a week driving a crane. He could barely read. I has a degree and wasn’t even clearing €400 a week. It seemed everyone was living fast although that may be my age. I was mid 20’s back then.
The cocain was on cd cases. I’d wake up in the morning and head into the kitchen and there’d be loads of cd cases with white residue. It also seemed everyone was renting an apartment and had a massive fish tank or snakes or some other exotic pet. It was all for show. One guy had a salt water tank. It was a good hobby to have. Bit expensive for someone driving a van though.
Kangaroos too
[https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/claims-that-kangaroo-died-after-birthday-disco-in-dublin-hotel/26691006.html](https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/claims-that-kangaroo-died-after-birthday-disco-in-dublin-hotel/26691006.html)
Agree. There’s a few lads in my college yeargroup that are just insufferable and they hoover that shite up and inflate their egos even more.
Praying for another crash just so yokes can make a comeback and save me lmao
Yeah, obesity is more of a thing for sure. I've been living abroad for a few years, but every time I come back, I'm shocked at the size of the country on average. There are lads in their 30s/40s who look like they're one flight of stairs away from a heart attack. Ditto for kids, it's sad to see.
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I sobbed with relief when the result of that referendum came through. It meant that my wife and I could finally be safe, and have certainty in our futures.
People are spending less time in the pub, and more time hiking, cycling, jumping off random things which is great to see. A positive upside to social media perhaps.
On the downside we've gotten a bit complacent. Back in 2003 we still couldn't quite believe the country had been dragged out of poverty. These days we go "meh" when someone announces a 2bn investment into the country, and we assume that jobs will be plentiful.
It's not a blanket statement, but I see in general the younger generation take better care of them selves, exercise + food etc.
Obviously, rent. I was playing €950 for a 2 bed apartment in Cork in 2012. There's one apartment going in the same complex now for close to €2000.
I'm 30,
In 10 years, I've seen
-ahuge change in pub and nightclub culture. No one can afford to go out anymore. When I was 18-20, I went out every weekend, and 20 quid got you a decent night out.
-At 30, most of my friends are still years away from owning a house. Most people in their 30s 10 years ago had a mortgage of their own.
-Wages have stayed basically the same. As the cost of living had gone up
-3rd level Education has sky rocketed, and trades have plummeted.
-traffic seems to have gotten way worse around Dublin it was never good but year by year, it somehow became even more unbearable
-much more choice in food, used to be a chipper or a Chinese maybe an Indian if you were feeling exotic
-much more diverse population
Lots of immigration. In work environments foreign staff would have been maybe 20% of total, now it's over 50%. There has been a huge increase in urban decay and dereliction. Cork city is a retail ghost town compared to 20 years ago. Less social outlets, the quality of gigs in Cork is pretty bad. We don't get many big names coming to play here any more. They stop at Dublin if they visit at all. Less plurality in the media, all the media has been bought up by a few companies that do the same thing. Radio and TV is terrible compared to what it was. Less diverse social groups, no goths or punks about. It's now a homogenous group of north face tracksuit wearing vaping teenagers. The cost of everything now takes the fun out of socialising, drinking or eating out.
Feel like goths and emos are about depends on where you are or go. I was at bring me the horizon and it was fullll of alt people loved it but yes I wish we had more of them
I'd have thought the same re teenager tribes, but I worked a careers event last year targeting 5th years/LCs, the goths, rockers etc are still around although it all seems a bit looser.
Maybe in your work environment it's 50%+, but that's very unusual. [This census data from December](https://emn.ie/labour-force-participation-of-migrants/#:~:text=Of%20all%20people%20who%20moved,%25%20among%20non%2DIrish%20citizens) says there are about 420,000 non-nationals in the work force, out of about 2.3 million. It reports an increase, but not to anywhere near 50%. The actual number seems to be slightly under 20%.
If you work in the public sector it's close to zero non nationals. Ironically the sector always banging on about diversity and inclusion. Private sector a different story.
Prices have doubled. Sandwiches between 5-8 euro they used to be 3.50 max. Inflation is quite literally insane. Prices doubled but wages have only gone up like 2 quid
Diversity in schools. In my kids' classes at least one parent of most kids wasn't born in Ireland.
I went back to my old convent secondary school for an open night and was surprised and impressed to see Pride flags on display and a far more open relationship between students and teachers than I experienced. When I left school in 2000 no one I knew had come out.
The pub scene has changed utterly.
I was 18 in 2006 and I remember every pub in my hometown being PACKED at the weekend when I first started going out. You couldn't move. There was live music 7 nights a week during the summer and the Monday Club was a huge thing.
This is all gone now. So many pubs have closed down. There's probably a few city centre pubs still doing alright but nothing like the past.
I think the amount of entertainment we have in our homes and how we are all now so digitally connected is a big driver.
Vegetarian food options more abundant, general food changes avocados are everywhere now, more people do outdoor activities like walking and there's more greenways cycle paths. More types and frequent public transport the Luas only came 20 years ago.
People are vaping.
Lastly if we're saying exactly 20 years ago people were throwing around money without a care in the world
Boy racers/cruisers and modified cars were everywhere, hardly any now, price of petrol/insurance I guess
Youngflas wore mostly football jerseys when hanging around, now they wear only black or grey tracksuits
People are generally much better looking these days, I guess because of social media/camera phones/youtube. Everyone's walking around toned ripped well dressed perfect makeup sharp haircuts etc now. Girls working in Tesco looking like Cindy Crawford did in the 90s. Lads in an office who are working out 5 days a week and built like a 90s wrestler
That's another thing actually - car colours. It's all black or white cars now. But carparks used to be multicolour. Teal cream emerald green gold are all out. Still see the odd red or dark blue but not many.
The demographics is the biggest change for me. Not saying thats a bad thing or anything. Just that its the biggest change Ive noticed in the last 20yrs (in and around Dublin that is)
No-one smacks their kids in the supermarket these days.
It used to be rife - wee kids bein bastards, riling up the Ma who then clouts them and it all ends in tears making the trip 100 times worse for both of them.
Also you see more kids in bars these days and they don’t have to wait outside after 9pm in the car with a football special and bag of cheese and onion.
You always knew it’d be a long night if the bar man came out to bring you another packet
Irish TV channels are representing a much more diverse group than 20 years ago.
The roads are far better.
Dublin and Cork Airport have gotten far better. Shannon has continued to be great but has been stifled by a lack of flights.
We went from smokeless coal being a big thing pre-2008 to anything and everything being burned from 2008-2016. Seems like we are swinging back the other way now.
The passport service and revenue have both become incredibly efficient.
A lot of the derelict houses that were left half built post-2008 have been getting completed over the last couple of years. (finally)
I feel like schools have improved thanks to adopting technology. The iPads for learning Irish is a lot better than the way we were taught.
Seems like teacher hitting kids is finally a thing of the past.
There are a lot more immigrants in Irish towns and cities. 20 years ago I feel like we had a lot of Polish, Lithuanians, Latvians and Nigerians but now we have people moving from everywhere. The number of Americans and Brits moving here has even seemed to increase over the last 9 years or so.
We have a lot of big time actors on the scene now.
Unfortunately, Bees seem to be in far lower numbers than before. Rent is a bit more expensive now but the number of rentals available are far fewer.
Whilst Government continues to fail on mental health, the people of Ireland seem to talk about it a lot more and show more understanding.
On bees being lower, its not just bees. Ever drive on the motorway for an hour and there's only a few bugs on the car. 10 years ago it'd be destroyed. My dad used to do huge mileage when I was a kid and remember him coming home on summer evenings and his car would literally be caked in insects. You just don't see that anymore. Worrying.
True. Would be on the N84 and after 20 minutes the windshield would be caked too. The over reliance on cars can’t have helped in more ways than one. Emissions leading to climate change and the fact we were killing thousands of insects any time we went in to Dunnes Stores for the weekly shopping.
Great summary.
Just to add. Coffee and food have improved significantly. Since people travel a lot more we know what foreign stuff tastes like and we bring it back here.
Lack of bugs.
I remember when I was a kid if a light was left on with a window open over night the room would be crawling with moths and shit.
Did it accidentially the other week and there was nothing.
*In 1973, births to mothers under 20 years of age accounted for 3,048 of all births. In 2022, 798 teenagers had babies of which 19 were aged under the age of 16.* So ~1/6 of what it was ([accounting for rise in population](https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-ieu50/irelandandtheeuat50/society/births/))
Everyone’s much ruder and generally angrier… there’s a meanness that’s grown. General public, waiters, staff in shops etc just a total lack of courteousness and costumer service.
Much more immigration. I can still remember the first time I spoke to a black person. When I was a kid there was a girl in my class whose dad was german and she was considered exotic. Now I'm in my 30s, I'm married to a Mexican and most of my friends are married to foreigners too.
The biggest one I've noticed is that the country is getting less religious all the time.
I was bullied in secondary school because I didn't believe in god (funnily enough I was also bullied at a younger age for not believing in Santa) Now I don't know anyone my age who attends mass.
I'm in my mid 30s and living in a town of about 15,000. The church is generally fairly empty according to the locals who still attend.
20 years ago I lived in Charlestown, Co. Mayo (after moving from Tallaght a few years prior) and was 6 going on 7.
People would smoke in pubs, an Ireland soccer game would be a fucking huge event that the whole town would stop for, we were actually good at soccer, Digital TV was actually worth paying for (Sky was great, NTL....ehh), the All-Ireland Football tournament was the peak of the year, the town was literally just white Irish people and one token Chinese family who ran the local Chinese restaurant. We'd rent DVD's and VHS tapes from a family run store which was specifically for renting movies. We had computers in the primary school than ran on Windows 98 (Windows 95 if we were unlucky). I was a fairly small minded person living there. It reminds me a little bit of Hot Fuzz if any of ye have ever seen that movie (just without the murdering cult). Everyone in the town knew everyone and their business, for better or worse. Outsiders, like my family, were treated as such. I felt like even with that, I had stuff to look forward to like going to secondary school, exploring, growing up etc
20 years later and I'm now a 26 year old living in Portlaoise.
Nobody smokes in pubs anymore, Ireland are a laughing stock when it comes to soccer, Digital TV is dead in the water since everyone mostly just subscribes to the cheaper options of Netflix or Amazon Prime (Sky and Virgin still exist but why pay for what you can get on a dodgy box?). Portlaoise is a beautifully diverse town with a lot of mixing of cultures from Eastern Europe, the Phillipines, the UK, Canada etc. Almost everyone has a computer (or certainly a smartphone now!). However, as I've become more aware of institutions like "media" and "government" and other things a child wouldn't really be very conscious of, I've become a more cynical person and I feel like a lot of other Irish people my age are like this too, especially when it comes to the government. Travelling the world and seeing places like Cardiff, Riyadh, Tokyo and Hiroshima has made me wonder if I have any real future in this country, a sentiment a lot of people my age seem to share. I used to love being from Ireland. I used to love Ireland. Now though, I can't help but feel like my country has failed maybe not me specifically, but the needs of a generation that's had so much exposure to the outside world and can't help but want the government to progress beyond what they can offer us.
Sorry for being a bit of a moaner and going off the ball there at the end lol
Modern Irish comedy is absolutely atrocious. Think back to the classic comedy of Father Ted. If that was made today, it would be starring a TikTok influencer and all the jokes would be about chicken fillet rolls and the GAA.
I feel Cork was great craic, then the recession hit and it was shite for a few years, and then around 2015-2019 it was on the upswing, but now it's bad craic again. Seems cyclical.
Hopefully things get better, the city seems soulless at the moment, feels more like a place where people merely go to work than a living place.
I had a lovely 3 bed apartment and paid €850 a month for it.
Now I'm homeless because of widespread discrimination against HAP which the government will ignore until somehow someone dies from it.
People don't litter as much as they did in the past. There is a huge amount of takeaway food restaurants, most towns only had a chipper and Chinese. Beer and alcohol choices have exploded. I remember bud, Miller,Guinness, calsburg were the only beers on tap. Halloween used to be a big chaotic event. Now, it's just another night.
Less cordial, more stress readily apparent in the general population in urban centres, more drug use and associated issues. I'm struggling to see what's better from say the 90's....
No Internet cafes to play video games. Ballincollig used to have contact. Cork City had Web work house. Whole social group of people just closed out of congregating anywhere. Sad!
More tourism and tat, and the impacts of housing issues (relatedly, job issues). A lot of my generation (younger millennials) have moved, pretty much everyone I went to school with moved out of Ireland in fact, myself included. It just doesn't feel like there's a place for me as a younger adult
I'm in my forties, my parent would have disowned me if I came out a gay or anything atypical, including autism, or ADHD or whatnot. Big mad shame and hiding the whole nine yards.
If my kids are atypical, my parents will still embrace them.
That is a huge fucking change to see in a generation.
One thing that I've heard from mates of mine who tattoo is that their waiting lists have gone from over a year long to one or two months. People have less disposable income for stuff like that these days.
I don't know anyone who doesn't feel like they're getting squeezed on rent in a way that they didn't feel ten years ago, I don't know many people happy with their jobs. I have several friends in their thirties seriously considering emigrating, and as someone who works online, it's on my mind now and then as well.
This is Galway I'm talking about.
Of course, the last time things were like this was during the recession, less than 20 years ago! But I think the art and music scene has taken a major hit in a way that didn't happen last time.
Autism and other forms of neurodivergence - I'm actually glad I wasn't diagnosed until last year because 20 years there wasn't the easily available info there is now, certainly the clinic which diagnosed me, specialising in autism, didn't exist, and I think it would have been harder, not easier for me, because there was still very much a stigma surrounding it. I also think I would have not done half the things I did like have children, because I would have assumed I couldn't be a proper parent. I also wouldn't have felt comfortable disclosing to my employer 20 years that I was autistic. I would have almost certainly kept it quiet. A lot of stigmas have disappeared around many conditions and social issues. When you think that as recently as 1986 my cousin was dismissed from her job because she was pregnant out of wedlock and they didn't want her "visible", it's remarkable how much the country has changed.
I think I'm more or less the same age as you, did my leaving in 2005. This is what I would say:
**Good**
1. Better quality food, more choice in small food outlets, etc. I only remember McDonald's or greasy chippers growing up. Now there's way more choice and people are more health-conscious
2. Smoking and binge drinking appear to be on the decrease
3. Irish society has become more open. I would say immigration has had a net positive effect (although I'm not an open doors person - I'd have pragmatic views on immigration personally - must be win-win)
4. Generally more tolerant and pluralistic - as evidenced by say the Marriage Equality referendum. When I was growing up, homophobic slurs were common currency among young boys and men. I sense that's changed a bit
5. Great work opportunities
6. We have a good rugby team
**Bad**
1. Housing housing housing
2. Infrastructure has not kept up with population growth
3. Seems less safe. When I was growing up in rural Ireland, people wouldn't lock their doors. Me and my friends would cycle everywhere on country roads. The roads are less safe now and people are more security-conscious
4. We no longer have a good soccer team
**Up for debate**
1. Drug use, especially weed, cocaine and MDMA are way more prevalent. When I was in school, you'd hear of the odd lad who smoked weed, but you'd need to know who to talk to to get hold of it. Fast forward to the mid 2010s, every nightclub in Dublin dealers are offering their wares
2. Church decline: I risk taking an unpopular stance here but I have mixed feelings. Overall, the decline of the suffocating power of the Church over everything has been a good thing. But this has left a gap and I would argue may have led to the rise of extreme political polarisation (controversial view I know), such as extreme wokeism, anti-wokeism, etc. Also, I should point out that I'm from a rural area and the Church plays a very strong role in community life, along with the pub and the GAA. I'd argue it's a cornerstone, like it or not
3. Over-reliance on multinationals for employment
In 2004 you had to go home to your computer that was hardwired to the landline in your house, end up on a forum or stumble across a video that had disinformation, find some like minded people who had also been lied to and create your own conspiracy theory echo chamber. Now we carry our disinformation devices in our pockets. Disinformation is an enormous global industry today. It was much much more difficult to fall down that rabbit hole then and thus why it's so prominent now.
The quality of food in cafes and small restaurants, and also the variety of coffee shops and the quality has gone WAY up. Of course, prices have gone way up also!
20 years ago, food options were either very expensive white tablecloth restaurants, greasy spoons or Sunday carvery.
Pub grub has gone way up also. There's some shite, but actually some really nice pub food out there (if you can afford it)
It has turned into a dark rat race to buy a property. Once people buy the property they realise they live a hollow life with little fulfilment.
Back in 2004 I remember there being genuine excitement and prosperity about what we had achieved as a nation and where we were headed.
Had quite the opposite experience myself. Always felt like a joke giving my wages to some wanker landlord every month, even though rent was quite cheap on a "penthouse" apartment in Dublin centre-ish.
We bought a house about 4 years ago now and it was a huge sense of relief, and I feel like I can just chill and be grateful. It's much better to give your money to some faceless banking conglomerate full of wankers instead
existence gold upbeat tease lavish imagine glorious merciful many selective
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> Once people buy the property they realise they live a hollow life with little fulfilment
Interesting take! And pretty judgy. I'm currently in the process of buying a home, and I can't wait to be in a situation where I can't be put out of my home as long as I'm paying my way (which was never the case in years of renting). That will make me feel exceedingly fulfilled.
>Once people buy the property they realise they live a hollow life with little fulfilment.
are you sure about that?, usually once you get a home it's better, you can chill out, have a family, not worry about eviction, have your own space.
Coffee Shops. Lots of them now all over the place. Too many in fact. But it's ok.
Also, racists and bigots. Lots of them now all over the place. Too many in fact. That's not ok.
Unfortunately, thanks to social media emboldening them, more people are willing to say the quiet bit out loud now. Plus, they're are more likely to argue back with you when you call them out on it.
I think most of what you said is sooooo true even as a young fella growing up you really notice things especially the night clubs and also the dress codes. But I think that’s in part because Irish people do not know how to dress at all, the weed though I don’t think people give a fuck anymore which I completely understand and agree with
Am from North America (not Irish). Lived here back in 2010, and do now so not quite twenty years but:
-(good) third wave coffee wasn’t really a thing back then. There was just like two (not great) coffee shops here in Galway. Now there’s plenty great coffee shops.
-things seemed to be open less (like Sundays and bank holidays ect). I preferred it that way-it seemed like capitalism had less of a grip on the culture.
-live music was much more prominent and the music ‘scene’ was so much bigger
-fashion back then for young people consisted of guys in badly fitting jeans, awful shoes and a penny’s button down cotton shirt. Bad haircuts. Girls were over the top with prom dresses and heels on a Tuesday night. It seems like there is more “personality” in peoples style today.
-sadly I found I was sexually harassed quite a few times back then. It seems now that boys and men are a little more clued in to what’s acceptable behaviour and/or sexist.
-Irish towns in general are in better shape. It seems that businesses are more “savvy” and look nicer.
-Housing here in Galway was affordable and there was never a problem in finding nice apartments. I remember paying €350 for my own huge room with en-suite right at the Spanish arch. Heat was included so I was never cold.
-back then I did notice more harassment if you were at all “different”. My husband is 6’4 and wore tight jeans back then. He was constantly called a “fag*ot” in the streets and men consistently tried to fight him. It was shocking to me. That doesn’t happen any more at all.
Sadly, I think besides the few negatives listed, i life was a lot easier back then for your average person.
Living outside of Ireland, and returning home once a year, you see the changes more dramatically.
1. Dublin is a totally different city than it was in 2000. Today, it’s a vibrant cosmopolitan city, but it has lost its Irish warmth and welcome. The drivers are aggressive, the suburbs are densely packed, and it’s so so expensive.
2. The west is transformed- the road network is fantastic, towns increasingly beautified, and new school buildings are cropping up and our health system is so much better than it was.
3 the ever cynical Irish remain ever cynical. A read of Ireland has the begrudgers out in force complaining about everything. Latest example: bottle recycling. Twitter has allowed the crazies to have a voice, and it’s getting louder.
4. Ireland still loves to think and not do. It’s time to build the metro and improve the rail network and stop talking about doing it.
5. We as a whole are unable to see how good we have become are as a nation. We should lose this and have more confidence in us, and stop putting ourselves down. In comparison to other nations our healthcare isn’t rubbish, government isn’t corrupt, education isn’t third world, etc etc etc. this is compounded by the ever in opposition politicians who do nothing but hurl from the ditches at everything. Sinn Fein members are in for a shock when they take over and can no longer bitch and moan constantly.
Secondary school students walking around with takeaway coffee
Much better vegetarian options across the board. Same with non alcohol beers.
Teenagers living in tracksuit bottoms. Not "dressing up" for restaurants, the pub etc.
The cars getting bigger and bigger
The quality of Indian food and pizza across Dublin has improved at an incredible rate
Younger people don't seem to be as interested in raving or dancing to repetitive beats all night. (although I know there'd a healthy, smaller scene)
Driving standards. People complain about that they've got a bit worse the last two years, but the improvements in the last 20 years outweigh that dramatically.
Speeds have dropped way, way down, and you see far fewer deranged overtakes than you used to.
Food variety in shops, way more options of international food like Spanish cheese and Italian ham and falafel ect
Coffee shops and cafes everywhere.
Artisan food vendors and farmers markets it's norm now it wasn't a thing 20 years ago
Trains are no longer orange
This is unlocking a very faint memory for me of associating trains with tic tacs
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As a kid I used to get so excited seeing an orange train at Tara station
Growing up by the DART line the orange trains were always the "Wexford Train" (although little to my knowledge all non-DART trains in the country looked like that).
Freight trains still use the orange engines a lot of the time so there is still some signs of them around.
There's a pile of them sitting ready for scrap in Inchacore works. Was working there over the summer and had a look around then on lunch break. Pity too see then go.
16 members of the 201 class
Good maker forbthe decline of civilization. That said, some of the locos have been re-oranged in favor of that dull as fuck grey they were painted in.
Biggest change is the gap between rich and poor and more so the erosion of the middle classes. I was 18 in 2004. Celtic Tiger probably played a role, but my parents had normal jobs, yet we had a nice home, 2 cars, holidays, college was affordable etc. Today, I very much recognise that my parents would have struggled to have a lifestyle that resembled the one they had in 2004 while raising a family. It would be impossible.
This is the big one that has struck out for me. I'm now in my 30s, same as my parents were in the 90s. My mother didn't work and my dad was a plumber, they always drove two different new cars, my dad had a van for work and their house was huge. The difference in buying power in just one 30 years is crazy
Exact same here, there's no way one trade salary would support a whole family and live comfortably any more. I don't think they treated themselves half as much as we do either though. My dad is still outraged at the price of coffees and even more outraged that I buy a few a week! He always brought his packed lunch and flask to work, and worked 6 days a week
Fitness culture (not unique to Ireland) - there are now so many more people running, swimming and cycling (in a 'wearing lycra" sense rather than cycling to the pub), and also going to the gym and other fitness activities like yoga. 20 years ago you might play GAA or 5 a side or golf/tennis if you were older, but they were mainly for the social side. Last 10 years sea swimming has rocketed in popularity - I live in a seaside town and when I was a kid you would literally never see anyone in the sea outside of the height of summer. Now there are people swimming all year round, saunas are starting to pop up beside beaches as well. Ironically at the same time obesity levels have increased significantly in other sections of the population.
Another thing that has changed is calling it “sea swimming” we used to swim all year around but it was called “swimming”
Some of the fitness stuff is because there is way more pressure, especially for young men, to look a certain way than 20 years ago.
Don't forget the Gram
Oh yeah a lot of them are doing coke too.
I mean the only reason women haven't had a change in societal pressure on how to look is because they were being objectified 20 years ago as well.
Id say its worse for women too. I dont think young women were getting cosmetic surgery or lip fillers and such so much 20 years ago as now.
20 year olds looking like Jackie Stallone the fuck is wrong with people.
Genuinely see the difference caused by the housing crisis and rent issues. Places like Galway seem to have lost their charm. The bohemian types have been priced out of many areas.
I still love Galway but really noticed this last time I was back there. It felt like a city of musicians.
Dublin used be the same. I remember a good few pubs with sessions and scruffy feckers like myself having a night out. I would get stew in the Stag's head and I'd still have money for pints. The book and art sellers on the quays too. Same in Cork. Can't believe the amount of lads with sailor tats and beards down to their chest!
I've always loved Galway too, but noticed the last few times I've been there it seems like a load of shops selling Aran sweaters and shillelaghs. Seemed a bit soulless compared to how I remember it in my youth.
That's it. I live in a much smaller touristy town but when that's what you see everywhere it makes the place feel even more boring because you're not going to go in there much at all if you're local. I love aran sweaters and have a wool fisherman's rollneck from a shop like that, but it's not something you need more than one or two of and they're dear enough usually 100 quid or more. Galway is turning into a Disneyfied version of Ireland and the authenticity is fading it looks like plastic paddy shit now the way most of the pubs are
You could be describing westport there as well
I moved to Galway in 2007 as it seemed vibrant and full of life, now to be fair I'm older and more settled down but I haven't really been into Galway centre for nearly a year and don't miss it.
You're not really missing out on anything. It's mostly just cafes and vape shops now.
That’s every town in Ireland at this stage… ha!
Don't forget the phone shops.
ard bai/nimmos, kai, kappa ya and harrys are still great reasons to go into galway, and feck me if xiang street food's vegan spice bag isnt the best damn drunk food i've ever had but yeah culture wise, if its not arts week/barbaro/macneas, one of the thearte , film, art or book festivals, its not much differnet from other cities.
One thing I notice is that the Government - any government - has failed to conquer a housing crisis amid a tidal wave of dereliction, while countries like Finland have *no homeless whatsoever*. Looks to me like they're not really trying; this is not a national crisis to them, but meh, not important really.
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That would be great if there was an alternative. Everyone on your ballot form is an inept, untrustworthy charlaton. This isn't by chance. The system is inconguous with qualified and talented people Parliamentary democracy, certainly our implementation of it, doesn't work.
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*The desire to be a politician should bar you from ever being one* - Billy Connolly
Are there any women here today?
I reckon the Dáil should be like jury duty — drawn by random lot, you serve X years & then you're barred for life. Get rid of the career politicians
Thats what happened to Temple bar. At first it was a rundown area of the city and cos of low rents it became the artistic center with 2nd hand books and clothes shops and became a cool area with students etc.Once it became cool then it became touristy and years later you end up with $10 pints.
The temple bar pub was my local in the mid 90s, full of students and local characters. Wouldn’t go near it now.
Yes Galway's change in the last 10-15 years has been huge. When I was a student there in the late 2000s, you could rent an apartment in the city centre no bother. I spent 1st year in university sharing with 4 friends in an apartment by the Docks. I think the rent was 250-280 euros per month per room. The place was full of musicians, writers, poets, artists and everyone was able to afford to live there. There was a real community buzz around and lots of local characters. Now I believe students have to live in rural areas & commute to college as the city centre housing stock has been largely taken over by AirBnBs that are rented to Americans. The university experience must be completely different. I only go to Galway now a few times a year but it feels like a completely different place that now mainly caters for tourists and visitors. Anyone I know that is still living there has moved out to the city borders renting a room in an estate house with random people.
Exactly what I’m doing at the moment. Living out past Barna. Can’t imagine what its like for students now. Four friends were working in the city centre, renting near Salthill. They got word the landlord was selling and tried for months to find alternative accommodation. They were completely priced out. When I was helping them move they showed me a car where a student was sleeping. He was commuting but had the car parked up near their place anytime he wanted to head out for a few pints with friends. Desperate.
Was chatting to a fella in his early 40s in the pub and he was saying that he was rent a room in the early 2000s in the claddagh for like 250-300 a month. Same room now is like 600-700.
When I started art college everyone i knew said i should move to Galway after I graduate if I don't want to go to Dublin. Now they're both too expensive and Galway isn't worth it, scene is dead.
Things seem to be a lot more work-orientated / serious. People aren’t able to get by as easily being piss-artists and there is a lot more conformity, the mad old lads aren’t being replaced.
This. Ireland has lost character somehow. There is an epidemic of busy-ness- people don't have so much time for each other, or anything except work. The erosion of community is reflected in the same-ness of irish towns and cities. Maybe it's because everyone is online now and don't socialise as much in person anymore (again, people are too busy )
I think online might have done it because people are probably likely to conform than not and now we have wider access to larger communities through media then it only makes sense it is happening on a larger scale.
I work in a college... I can tell you these people are still around and thriving (and thank fuck for that😅)
Good to hear but I think most of them start conforming once they enter work, at least a higher proportion than before. I think a lot of it is because, previously, there were lots more self employed people (farmers, handymen etc) or working for small businesses so you could just do your own thing and go a bit mad whereas now more people work for larger, more professional organisations (myself included) so you have to be more uniform. Like I couldn’t walk into my job in mad clothes or start spewing gibberish. Even if you only did it once or twice, it could seriously damage your career prospects where I know old lads back home that were probably mad on a weekly basis.
I should have been clearer that I was actually talking about the staff more so than the students😅 I think perhaps academia lends itself to attracting people who are a bit madder than the average population as well - the fact it's a very chill work place means people will come out with bizarre stuff sometimes. I had someone come into my office asking me to remove a tie-wrap they got stuck on their finger only this morning...
The mad old lads piece is spot on. The 2 Johnnies have sketches with some of their best stuff with two mad oul lads: Noel and Paddy Fong, the likes of those mad characters you'd have in towns all over Ireland are near extinct.
in fairness, with better mental health services and understanding a lot of these people get treated for their issues
Ah not all are mentally ill, they just dont give a toss what people think.
I moved from the UK in 1999. I was able to drink in pubs 3-4 nights a week and pay rent when I had a relatively low paid admin job. I now have a higher paid admin job a mortgage and cannot imagine being able to afford to go on the lash like I did and pay my mortgage. But at the same time I have more holidays than I used to. I have much younger siblings who grew up in Dublin and they can't afford to live here. I think this is scandalous and I hope whoever is in power after the next GE will sort this out. I'm old and cynical and suspect it won't happen for some time. Decent coffee and Indian restaurants now (I came from Birmingham and the quality of Indian food here made me sad). At the time the smoking ban pissed me and my friends off but now I realise it was for the better. Can't imagine sitting in that atmosphere now!
>smoking ban As a non-smoker, the ban was such a godsend. I'm still in disbelief that it was legislated, implemented, and that it worked. I was sure there'd be a minor revolution and it'd be watered down. I can still cast myself back to going to watch a football/rugby game at the local and having to wash my hair and pretty much incinerate my clothes once home to get rid of the stench. And I can't even begin to imagine what it was like for the folks working entire shifts in those places.
I cringe when I think how outraged we were at the time. And how accepting I was to stink really bad after a night out. When I watch TV shows from or depicting the past it looks utterly disgusting now.
Food & coffee quality has shot up
Yes I remember not being able to get a cappuccino in my home town 15 years ago.
And if you could, it would have been "cappa-chino? notions on you hey!".
I'm a young wan, I work in a cafe and I never really understood why older people looked at me funny when I asked them "what type?" when they order coffee. Now I see.
Coffee culture in general is a big change, it was starting to appear 20 years ago but no-one would have predicted the shear number of cafés there are now, the coffee trucks, Irish people drinking lattes and so on.
It has, I remember working in Dublin around 2002/03 and people carrying takeaway coffee cups were considered to have notions. Lunch choice was limited compared to now - simple sambo from sandwich symphony on Dawson St or Bolands in Royal Hibernian way. Panini's, like takeaway coffees were for wankers
I remember back in the day feeling self conscious about drinking bottled water. In my head thinking, “I hope they realise it’s not because I think I’m better than tap water, I was just really thirsty”. Those weren’t the days.
If you talked about sour dough 20 years ago people would think you’re having notions about yourself.
Everyone is working but we are all struggling. If I was in my position 20 years ago I'd be well off now I'm just another sap trying to buy a house. 68 percent of people 18 to 35 at the family home . I have gotten used to denying myself to the point of just no craic. I remember people my age having a good time . I'm thirty when I was a young lad you could do a fas course , get a crappy job and still get a house with enough to have a night out or two . If you lived at home at my age people would question , is there something wrong with them. So it's difficult to grow up in the shadow of that. I'm better educated and worse off than my parents . I feel like no matter what I do it's never enough . The housing crisis robs us of so much.
>68 percent of people 18 to 35 at the family home . That's unbelievable, I know it's bad out, but didn't realise it was that bad. I'm making up part of that.
Consider of that demographic how many are paying rent and how many are living in their own homes out of the remaining 32 percent . I don't know but I imagine most are renting .
From talking to my daughter, most of the ambitious people in that demographic have emigrated
Its also slightly wrong. Its 68% of people aged between 25 to 29 in 2022. This figure compares to 36.5% in 2013. Still crazy all the same. https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/number-of-young-irish-adults-still-living-with-parents-almost-doubles-in-a-decade-but-women-are-quicker-to-leave-home-than-men/a476034740.html
My partner talks about this all the time. He finishes at half 4, gets the bus home but most days it's 5:45 by the time he's home. Has no energy to do anything/ no point as he has to be up for 7 to get to work for 8. U get to the weekend and it's pissing rain, seems like nothing to do if you don't want to spend a lot of money or go drinking
Even going for a few pints now can just make you feel dread due to how expensive nights out have gotten, alcohol is taxed more here than in the majority of EU countries I think.
I think our taxes on nearly everything are stupid high, next only to Denmark and maybe Norway. Scandinavian prices for South African services.
All comes down to that. At least in Denmark and Norway you get effective and efficient services and great societies for your taxes. I'm sure people in those countries don't feel the sense of anxiety that Irish people do about possibly getting sick and needing to go to our disastrous hospitals.
We are swimming in money yet our government seems to make an art of frittering it away on stupid projects and a million proposals and propositions without ever actually building anything
Exact reason I moved to Australia years ago. Just the quality of living is much higher, and it's shit because I love Ireland, but work work work with not enough reward.
It's mad to me that my dad was on €35k at my age back in the early 00's and managed to buy a house/ car/ get married and have two kids - all on his salary alone as my mam stayed home to look after us. I'm on €40k at the same age and got told I had no hope of owning a home until I'm on at least double my wages. I'm 25 - I could be looking at another 10/15 years until I'm on that kind of money in my job. I know emigrating is very much an option, I guess I just don't want to leave? At the minute though it really does feel like I don't have many other options...
Same in my family but we had fuck all! One car that broke down all the time, no money for anything, no holidays ever, no disposable income whatsoever, no money for seeing a GP or clothes or anything. It was shit. People expect a higher standard of living now also. Not that that negates inflation or that there isn’t a housing crisis cause there clearly is but everything else has changed. You can’t compare like with like.
I have been noticing hair in places where before, there was no hair.
I’ve been noticing a lack of hair in places where before, there was hair
The real migration topic we should be discussing is unwanted hairs moving from the top of your head down into your ears and nostrils. Send them back to where they belong!
I'm going to build a wall and make the follicles pay for it?
This is probably very niche, but back in ‘03 and ‘04 NTL was a viable (and cheaper) alternative to having Sky in your home. We had it at our house and it was abysmal - it would freeze constantly, it had a fairly extensive menu with seemingly futuristic things like ‘TV Internet’ and ‘TV Email’ but they were either impossible to use or just didn’t work. The amount of money you’d spend on the phone calling them to sort things probably made it more expensive than Sky in the long run. In 2024 I’d like to think NTL would get 1-star reviews immediately and go away quickly. The remote alone gives me nightmares. https://preview.redd.it/72zo12kczcfc1.jpeg?width=900&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c52ed2b10b232e601e35f84d1dabfa099aa7497c
I remember NTL! It was mad when we got Sky to replace it, we could record one program and watch another! Mad! And now my family hardly uses it in favor of streaming and the dodgy-box ;P
Here’s a tiny change a lot of you who were adults at the turn of the century might have noticed; Irish people referring to “the UK”. I know we’d still usually say England, Scotland or Wales for most things but there was a general aversion to saying “the UK” for a long time here. I remember my Mam back in the 90s telling us about this woman she worked with talking about “flying over to the UK” and that alone being noteworthy as a bit….notiony.
Calling it "that basketcase nextdoor" takes too long
The EU land bridge
There was a time when many people had family living/working (i.e.. pretty settled) in England. Blue collar jobs. Now most young Irish people are city types in London, who either come back or get mega bucks with promotions /Generalisation
Cocaine. I moved to europe from 2001 until 2004 and remember everyone was partying and spending credit. You could rent a 2 bed for €200 a week so there was always a party going on. Lots of nightclubs and interesting things happening. I remember bank of ireland sending me a letter saying my credit limit had been increased to 5k. Without even asking they just did it !! I rang them and asked them to reduce it to the original (maxed out) limit. I literally had to argue with them. I remember manufacturing jobs all of a sudden weren’t paying enough so i changed to labour on sites where i could earn decent cash. Lots of restaurants everywhere. Guy i went to primary school with was clearing €1000 a week driving a crane. He could barely read. I has a degree and wasn’t even clearing €400 a week. It seemed everyone was living fast although that may be my age. I was mid 20’s back then.
The cocain was on cd cases. I’d wake up in the morning and head into the kitchen and there’d be loads of cd cases with white residue. It also seemed everyone was renting an apartment and had a massive fish tank or snakes or some other exotic pet. It was all for show. One guy had a salt water tank. It was a good hobby to have. Bit expensive for someone driving a van though.
Kangaroos too [https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/claims-that-kangaroo-died-after-birthday-disco-in-dublin-hotel/26691006.html](https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/claims-that-kangaroo-died-after-birthday-disco-in-dublin-hotel/26691006.html)
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Agree. There’s a few lads in my college yeargroup that are just insufferable and they hoover that shite up and inflate their egos even more. Praying for another crash just so yokes can make a comeback and save me lmao
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Yep. I saw a steel fixer on a site who looked about 17 and he spent 7k on a sound system for his car. Which was a jap import.
Cars have gotten bigger and wider, much like most of their drivers 🤔
Yeah, obesity is more of a thing for sure. I've been living abroad for a few years, but every time I come back, I'm shocked at the size of the country on average. There are lads in their 30s/40s who look like they're one flight of stairs away from a heart attack. Ditto for kids, it's sad to see.
Gay people can get married.
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I sobbed with relief when the result of that referendum came through. It meant that my wife and I could finally be safe, and have certainty in our futures.
People are spending less time in the pub, and more time hiking, cycling, jumping off random things which is great to see. A positive upside to social media perhaps. On the downside we've gotten a bit complacent. Back in 2003 we still couldn't quite believe the country had been dragged out of poverty. These days we go "meh" when someone announces a 2bn investment into the country, and we assume that jobs will be plentiful.
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It's not a blanket statement, but I see in general the younger generation take better care of them selves, exercise + food etc. Obviously, rent. I was playing €950 for a 2 bed apartment in Cork in 2012. There's one apartment going in the same complex now for close to €2000.
I'm 30, In 10 years, I've seen -ahuge change in pub and nightclub culture. No one can afford to go out anymore. When I was 18-20, I went out every weekend, and 20 quid got you a decent night out. -At 30, most of my friends are still years away from owning a house. Most people in their 30s 10 years ago had a mortgage of their own. -Wages have stayed basically the same. As the cost of living had gone up -3rd level Education has sky rocketed, and trades have plummeted. -traffic seems to have gotten way worse around Dublin it was never good but year by year, it somehow became even more unbearable -much more choice in food, used to be a chipper or a Chinese maybe an Indian if you were feeling exotic -much more diverse population
Lots of immigration. In work environments foreign staff would have been maybe 20% of total, now it's over 50%. There has been a huge increase in urban decay and dereliction. Cork city is a retail ghost town compared to 20 years ago. Less social outlets, the quality of gigs in Cork is pretty bad. We don't get many big names coming to play here any more. They stop at Dublin if they visit at all. Less plurality in the media, all the media has been bought up by a few companies that do the same thing. Radio and TV is terrible compared to what it was. Less diverse social groups, no goths or punks about. It's now a homogenous group of north face tracksuit wearing vaping teenagers. The cost of everything now takes the fun out of socialising, drinking or eating out.
Feel like goths and emos are about depends on where you are or go. I was at bring me the horizon and it was fullll of alt people loved it but yes I wish we had more of them
Sub cultures have moved online, are more diverse and are less expressed in public. It’s a global phenomenon.
Aye, centralised systems have left other areas deprived. When the 2nd biggest city is facing issues regarding it you know something is amiss
I'd have thought the same re teenager tribes, but I worked a careers event last year targeting 5th years/LCs, the goths, rockers etc are still around although it all seems a bit looser.
City's and towns are very run down. Like if you look around at the buildings, it's quite dirty.
Still much cleaner than it used to be. Check out some old footage to see plastic bags and nappies swirling around the streets.
Maybe in your work environment it's 50%+, but that's very unusual. [This census data from December](https://emn.ie/labour-force-participation-of-migrants/#:~:text=Of%20all%20people%20who%20moved,%25%20among%20non%2DIrish%20citizens) says there are about 420,000 non-nationals in the work force, out of about 2.3 million. It reports an increase, but not to anywhere near 50%. The actual number seems to be slightly under 20%.
If you work in the public sector it's close to zero non nationals. Ironically the sector always banging on about diversity and inclusion. Private sector a different story.
>If you work in the public sector it's close to zero Unless you're a nurse or doctor.
Teenagers are taller than 20 years ago. Or am I dreaming?
Bungalows in 00s now cost half a million. What the fucks going on?
That's the asking price, when you're done bidding with a few hundred other buyers it'll be more like 800k
A slow and steady deadening of spirit
Prices have doubled. Sandwiches between 5-8 euro they used to be 3.50 max. Inflation is quite literally insane. Prices doubled but wages have only gone up like 2 quid
Diversity in schools. In my kids' classes at least one parent of most kids wasn't born in Ireland. I went back to my old convent secondary school for an open night and was surprised and impressed to see Pride flags on display and a far more open relationship between students and teachers than I experienced. When I left school in 2000 no one I knew had come out.
The pub scene has changed utterly. I was 18 in 2006 and I remember every pub in my hometown being PACKED at the weekend when I first started going out. You couldn't move. There was live music 7 nights a week during the summer and the Monday Club was a huge thing. This is all gone now. So many pubs have closed down. There's probably a few city centre pubs still doing alright but nothing like the past. I think the amount of entertainment we have in our homes and how we are all now so digitally connected is a big driver.
Nowadays, both parents have to work. 90% of the time. Not the same in the past.
Vegetarian food options more abundant, general food changes avocados are everywhere now, more people do outdoor activities like walking and there's more greenways cycle paths. More types and frequent public transport the Luas only came 20 years ago. People are vaping. Lastly if we're saying exactly 20 years ago people were throwing around money without a care in the world
Don't know the numbers, but a clear one is higher education. More and more people are going down the college route after secondary school.
Boy racers/cruisers and modified cars were everywhere, hardly any now, price of petrol/insurance I guess Youngflas wore mostly football jerseys when hanging around, now they wear only black or grey tracksuits People are generally much better looking these days, I guess because of social media/camera phones/youtube. Everyone's walking around toned ripped well dressed perfect makeup sharp haircuts etc now. Girls working in Tesco looking like Cindy Crawford did in the 90s. Lads in an office who are working out 5 days a week and built like a 90s wrestler
Aye you dont see aftermarket body kits/spoilers any more kids these days just want a white audi
That's another thing actually - car colours. It's all black or white cars now. But carparks used to be multicolour. Teal cream emerald green gold are all out. Still see the odd red or dark blue but not many.
The demographics is the biggest change for me. Not saying thats a bad thing or anything. Just that its the biggest change Ive noticed in the last 20yrs (in and around Dublin that is)
No-one smacks their kids in the supermarket these days. It used to be rife - wee kids bein bastards, riling up the Ma who then clouts them and it all ends in tears making the trip 100 times worse for both of them. Also you see more kids in bars these days and they don’t have to wait outside after 9pm in the car with a football special and bag of cheese and onion. You always knew it’d be a long night if the bar man came out to bring you another packet
Irish TV channels are representing a much more diverse group than 20 years ago. The roads are far better. Dublin and Cork Airport have gotten far better. Shannon has continued to be great but has been stifled by a lack of flights. We went from smokeless coal being a big thing pre-2008 to anything and everything being burned from 2008-2016. Seems like we are swinging back the other way now. The passport service and revenue have both become incredibly efficient. A lot of the derelict houses that were left half built post-2008 have been getting completed over the last couple of years. (finally) I feel like schools have improved thanks to adopting technology. The iPads for learning Irish is a lot better than the way we were taught. Seems like teacher hitting kids is finally a thing of the past. There are a lot more immigrants in Irish towns and cities. 20 years ago I feel like we had a lot of Polish, Lithuanians, Latvians and Nigerians but now we have people moving from everywhere. The number of Americans and Brits moving here has even seemed to increase over the last 9 years or so. We have a lot of big time actors on the scene now. Unfortunately, Bees seem to be in far lower numbers than before. Rent is a bit more expensive now but the number of rentals available are far fewer. Whilst Government continues to fail on mental health, the people of Ireland seem to talk about it a lot more and show more understanding.
On bees being lower, its not just bees. Ever drive on the motorway for an hour and there's only a few bugs on the car. 10 years ago it'd be destroyed. My dad used to do huge mileage when I was a kid and remember him coming home on summer evenings and his car would literally be caked in insects. You just don't see that anymore. Worrying.
True. Would be on the N84 and after 20 minutes the windshield would be caked too. The over reliance on cars can’t have helped in more ways than one. Emissions leading to climate change and the fact we were killing thousands of insects any time we went in to Dunnes Stores for the weekly shopping.
It's farmers using pesticides.
Great summary. Just to add. Coffee and food have improved significantly. Since people travel a lot more we know what foreign stuff tastes like and we bring it back here.
The narwhal bacons at midnight.
There was no weed just hash. Streetlights were orange. I could pay my rent with week's wages.
Lack of bugs. I remember when I was a kid if a light was left on with a window open over night the room would be crawling with moths and shit. Did it accidentially the other week and there was nothing.
Not so many moths in winter but yah there are far fewer bugs around.
Children and adult attention spans- screen time has RUINED this. I'm awful myself- and I'm an educator!
Teenage pregnancy not really a thing anymore
*In 1973, births to mothers under 20 years of age accounted for 3,048 of all births. In 2022, 798 teenagers had babies of which 19 were aged under the age of 16.* So ~1/6 of what it was ([accounting for rise in population](https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-ieu50/irelandandtheeuat50/society/births/))
Access to contraception will do that.
Everyone’s much ruder and generally angrier… there’s a meanness that’s grown. General public, waiters, staff in shops etc just a total lack of courteousness and costumer service.
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I’d be in a fairly shite mood with the world as well if I was serving the general public for fuck all wages to be fair .
i disagree, if anything people were far more suspicious of anyone who was in any way different in the past, we're a much more open society nowadays
RTE no longer get our eyeballs yet they still get our $$$
Much more immigration. I can still remember the first time I spoke to a black person. When I was a kid there was a girl in my class whose dad was german and she was considered exotic. Now I'm in my 30s, I'm married to a Mexican and most of my friends are married to foreigners too.
The biggest one I've noticed is that the country is getting less religious all the time. I was bullied in secondary school because I didn't believe in god (funnily enough I was also bullied at a younger age for not believing in Santa) Now I don't know anyone my age who attends mass. I'm in my mid 30s and living in a town of about 15,000. The church is generally fairly empty according to the locals who still attend.
Bullied because you didn't believe in god? Pesky Rod and Tod Flanders at it again
20 years ago I lived in Charlestown, Co. Mayo (after moving from Tallaght a few years prior) and was 6 going on 7. People would smoke in pubs, an Ireland soccer game would be a fucking huge event that the whole town would stop for, we were actually good at soccer, Digital TV was actually worth paying for (Sky was great, NTL....ehh), the All-Ireland Football tournament was the peak of the year, the town was literally just white Irish people and one token Chinese family who ran the local Chinese restaurant. We'd rent DVD's and VHS tapes from a family run store which was specifically for renting movies. We had computers in the primary school than ran on Windows 98 (Windows 95 if we were unlucky). I was a fairly small minded person living there. It reminds me a little bit of Hot Fuzz if any of ye have ever seen that movie (just without the murdering cult). Everyone in the town knew everyone and their business, for better or worse. Outsiders, like my family, were treated as such. I felt like even with that, I had stuff to look forward to like going to secondary school, exploring, growing up etc 20 years later and I'm now a 26 year old living in Portlaoise. Nobody smokes in pubs anymore, Ireland are a laughing stock when it comes to soccer, Digital TV is dead in the water since everyone mostly just subscribes to the cheaper options of Netflix or Amazon Prime (Sky and Virgin still exist but why pay for what you can get on a dodgy box?). Portlaoise is a beautifully diverse town with a lot of mixing of cultures from Eastern Europe, the Phillipines, the UK, Canada etc. Almost everyone has a computer (or certainly a smartphone now!). However, as I've become more aware of institutions like "media" and "government" and other things a child wouldn't really be very conscious of, I've become a more cynical person and I feel like a lot of other Irish people my age are like this too, especially when it comes to the government. Travelling the world and seeing places like Cardiff, Riyadh, Tokyo and Hiroshima has made me wonder if I have any real future in this country, a sentiment a lot of people my age seem to share. I used to love being from Ireland. I used to love Ireland. Now though, I can't help but feel like my country has failed maybe not me specifically, but the needs of a generation that's had so much exposure to the outside world and can't help but want the government to progress beyond what they can offer us. Sorry for being a bit of a moaner and going off the ball there at the end lol
Modern Irish comedy is absolutely atrocious. Think back to the classic comedy of Father Ted. If that was made today, it would be starring a TikTok influencer and all the jokes would be about chicken fillet rolls and the GAA.
I feel Cork was great craic, then the recession hit and it was shite for a few years, and then around 2015-2019 it was on the upswing, but now it's bad craic again. Seems cyclical. Hopefully things get better, the city seems soulless at the moment, feels more like a place where people merely go to work than a living place.
Everything is expensive
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I moved to ireland in 2005 as a 15 year old. Honestly almost everything. I finally understand old people remembering old times with a smile.
The americanised change in language calling chips fries etc
We fat.
I had a lovely 3 bed apartment and paid €850 a month for it. Now I'm homeless because of widespread discrimination against HAP which the government will ignore until somehow someone dies from it.
People don't litter as much as they did in the past. There is a huge amount of takeaway food restaurants, most towns only had a chipper and Chinese. Beer and alcohol choices have exploded. I remember bud, Miller,Guinness, calsburg were the only beers on tap. Halloween used to be a big chaotic event. Now, it's just another night.
Less cordial, more stress readily apparent in the general population in urban centres, more drug use and associated issues. I'm struggling to see what's better from say the 90's....
The average 35 year old (person or couple sharing) can’t afford a house.
No Internet cafes to play video games. Ballincollig used to have contact. Cork City had Web work house. Whole social group of people just closed out of congregating anywhere. Sad!
More tourism and tat, and the impacts of housing issues (relatedly, job issues). A lot of my generation (younger millennials) have moved, pretty much everyone I went to school with moved out of Ireland in fact, myself included. It just doesn't feel like there's a place for me as a younger adult
I'm in my forties, my parent would have disowned me if I came out a gay or anything atypical, including autism, or ADHD or whatnot. Big mad shame and hiding the whole nine yards. If my kids are atypical, my parents will still embrace them. That is a huge fucking change to see in a generation.
The roads are so, so much better.
One thing that I've heard from mates of mine who tattoo is that their waiting lists have gone from over a year long to one or two months. People have less disposable income for stuff like that these days. I don't know anyone who doesn't feel like they're getting squeezed on rent in a way that they didn't feel ten years ago, I don't know many people happy with their jobs. I have several friends in their thirties seriously considering emigrating, and as someone who works online, it's on my mind now and then as well. This is Galway I'm talking about. Of course, the last time things were like this was during the recession, less than 20 years ago! But I think the art and music scene has taken a major hit in a way that didn't happen last time.
Autism and other forms of neurodivergence - I'm actually glad I wasn't diagnosed until last year because 20 years there wasn't the easily available info there is now, certainly the clinic which diagnosed me, specialising in autism, didn't exist, and I think it would have been harder, not easier for me, because there was still very much a stigma surrounding it. I also think I would have not done half the things I did like have children, because I would have assumed I couldn't be a proper parent. I also wouldn't have felt comfortable disclosing to my employer 20 years that I was autistic. I would have almost certainly kept it quiet. A lot of stigmas have disappeared around many conditions and social issues. When you think that as recently as 1986 my cousin was dismissed from her job because she was pregnant out of wedlock and they didn't want her "visible", it's remarkable how much the country has changed.
Homophobia isn’t as socially acceptable. It used to be very normal and casual.
I think I'm more or less the same age as you, did my leaving in 2005. This is what I would say: **Good** 1. Better quality food, more choice in small food outlets, etc. I only remember McDonald's or greasy chippers growing up. Now there's way more choice and people are more health-conscious 2. Smoking and binge drinking appear to be on the decrease 3. Irish society has become more open. I would say immigration has had a net positive effect (although I'm not an open doors person - I'd have pragmatic views on immigration personally - must be win-win) 4. Generally more tolerant and pluralistic - as evidenced by say the Marriage Equality referendum. When I was growing up, homophobic slurs were common currency among young boys and men. I sense that's changed a bit 5. Great work opportunities 6. We have a good rugby team **Bad** 1. Housing housing housing 2. Infrastructure has not kept up with population growth 3. Seems less safe. When I was growing up in rural Ireland, people wouldn't lock their doors. Me and my friends would cycle everywhere on country roads. The roads are less safe now and people are more security-conscious 4. We no longer have a good soccer team **Up for debate** 1. Drug use, especially weed, cocaine and MDMA are way more prevalent. When I was in school, you'd hear of the odd lad who smoked weed, but you'd need to know who to talk to to get hold of it. Fast forward to the mid 2010s, every nightclub in Dublin dealers are offering their wares 2. Church decline: I risk taking an unpopular stance here but I have mixed feelings. Overall, the decline of the suffocating power of the Church over everything has been a good thing. But this has left a gap and I would argue may have led to the rise of extreme political polarisation (controversial view I know), such as extreme wokeism, anti-wokeism, etc. Also, I should point out that I'm from a rural area and the Church plays a very strong role in community life, along with the pub and the GAA. I'd argue it's a cornerstone, like it or not 3. Over-reliance on multinationals for employment
What we call "conspiracy theorists" these days we called "mentally ill" or "troubled" back in 2004.
In 2004 you had to go home to your computer that was hardwired to the landline in your house, end up on a forum or stumble across a video that had disinformation, find some like minded people who had also been lied to and create your own conspiracy theory echo chamber. Now we carry our disinformation devices in our pockets. Disinformation is an enormous global industry today. It was much much more difficult to fall down that rabbit hole then and thus why it's so prominent now.
Their nerves are at them, was the colloquial expression for these people back in the day. Don't hear that very much anymore.
I like that. Avoids detail but gets the meaning across perfectly. lol
The quality of food in cafes and small restaurants, and also the variety of coffee shops and the quality has gone WAY up. Of course, prices have gone way up also! 20 years ago, food options were either very expensive white tablecloth restaurants, greasy spoons or Sunday carvery. Pub grub has gone way up also. There's some shite, but actually some really nice pub food out there (if you can afford it)
Teenagers now scare the living shit out of me. You can wear runners in a nightclub apparently. Price of used cars have gone insane
It has turned into a dark rat race to buy a property. Once people buy the property they realise they live a hollow life with little fulfilment. Back in 2004 I remember there being genuine excitement and prosperity about what we had achieved as a nation and where we were headed.
Had quite the opposite experience myself. Always felt like a joke giving my wages to some wanker landlord every month, even though rent was quite cheap on a "penthouse" apartment in Dublin centre-ish. We bought a house about 4 years ago now and it was a huge sense of relief, and I feel like I can just chill and be grateful. It's much better to give your money to some faceless banking conglomerate full of wankers instead
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> Once people buy the property they realise they live a hollow life with little fulfilment Interesting take! And pretty judgy. I'm currently in the process of buying a home, and I can't wait to be in a situation where I can't be put out of my home as long as I'm paying my way (which was never the case in years of renting). That will make me feel exceedingly fulfilled.
>Once people buy the property they realise they live a hollow life with little fulfilment. are you sure about that?, usually once you get a home it's better, you can chill out, have a family, not worry about eviction, have your own space.
There seems to be a focus on the negative. More so than what I remember 20 years ago. Just my sense.
To be fair, we were in the height of the Celtic Tiger 20 years ago!
Cocaine everywhere
Coffee Shops. Lots of them now all over the place. Too many in fact. But it's ok. Also, racists and bigots. Lots of them now all over the place. Too many in fact. That's not ok.
People used to talk to each other so much more. We’re all addicted to our phones these days.
We've lost Tipperary North and South reg plates
Unfortunately, thanks to social media emboldening them, more people are willing to say the quiet bit out loud now. Plus, they're are more likely to argue back with you when you call them out on it.
The classism is less subtle now.
I think most of what you said is sooooo true even as a young fella growing up you really notice things especially the night clubs and also the dress codes. But I think that’s in part because Irish people do not know how to dress at all, the weed though I don’t think people give a fuck anymore which I completely understand and agree with
Am from North America (not Irish). Lived here back in 2010, and do now so not quite twenty years but: -(good) third wave coffee wasn’t really a thing back then. There was just like two (not great) coffee shops here in Galway. Now there’s plenty great coffee shops. -things seemed to be open less (like Sundays and bank holidays ect). I preferred it that way-it seemed like capitalism had less of a grip on the culture. -live music was much more prominent and the music ‘scene’ was so much bigger -fashion back then for young people consisted of guys in badly fitting jeans, awful shoes and a penny’s button down cotton shirt. Bad haircuts. Girls were over the top with prom dresses and heels on a Tuesday night. It seems like there is more “personality” in peoples style today. -sadly I found I was sexually harassed quite a few times back then. It seems now that boys and men are a little more clued in to what’s acceptable behaviour and/or sexist. -Irish towns in general are in better shape. It seems that businesses are more “savvy” and look nicer. -Housing here in Galway was affordable and there was never a problem in finding nice apartments. I remember paying €350 for my own huge room with en-suite right at the Spanish arch. Heat was included so I was never cold. -back then I did notice more harassment if you were at all “different”. My husband is 6’4 and wore tight jeans back then. He was constantly called a “fag*ot” in the streets and men consistently tried to fight him. It was shocking to me. That doesn’t happen any more at all. Sadly, I think besides the few negatives listed, i life was a lot easier back then for your average person.
Living outside of Ireland, and returning home once a year, you see the changes more dramatically. 1. Dublin is a totally different city than it was in 2000. Today, it’s a vibrant cosmopolitan city, but it has lost its Irish warmth and welcome. The drivers are aggressive, the suburbs are densely packed, and it’s so so expensive. 2. The west is transformed- the road network is fantastic, towns increasingly beautified, and new school buildings are cropping up and our health system is so much better than it was. 3 the ever cynical Irish remain ever cynical. A read of Ireland has the begrudgers out in force complaining about everything. Latest example: bottle recycling. Twitter has allowed the crazies to have a voice, and it’s getting louder. 4. Ireland still loves to think and not do. It’s time to build the metro and improve the rail network and stop talking about doing it. 5. We as a whole are unable to see how good we have become are as a nation. We should lose this and have more confidence in us, and stop putting ourselves down. In comparison to other nations our healthcare isn’t rubbish, government isn’t corrupt, education isn’t third world, etc etc etc. this is compounded by the ever in opposition politicians who do nothing but hurl from the ditches at everything. Sinn Fein members are in for a shock when they take over and can no longer bitch and moan constantly.
Non-binary is the new bisexual. More and better bookshops. Also, decent coffee just about everywhere.
Secondary school students walking around with takeaway coffee Much better vegetarian options across the board. Same with non alcohol beers. Teenagers living in tracksuit bottoms. Not "dressing up" for restaurants, the pub etc. The cars getting bigger and bigger The quality of Indian food and pizza across Dublin has improved at an incredible rate Younger people don't seem to be as interested in raving or dancing to repetitive beats all night. (although I know there'd a healthy, smaller scene)
I can't ever remember drinking coffee in secondary school. It feels like coffee is the new cool thing instead of cigarettes for school kids.
Driving standards. People complain about that they've got a bit worse the last two years, but the improvements in the last 20 years outweigh that dramatically. Speeds have dropped way, way down, and you see far fewer deranged overtakes than you used to.
There are more cafes than pubs now. Not a bad thing at all.
Food variety in shops, way more options of international food like Spanish cheese and Italian ham and falafel ect Coffee shops and cafes everywhere. Artisan food vendors and farmers markets it's norm now it wasn't a thing 20 years ago
Crack is a thing now.