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Doom and gloom

Is life in Celtic Tiger Ireland really all that good?

Article by : SpunOut.ie

In my final weeks of school, I wake up with nerves and excitement, wondering what the future has in store for me. I’m excited at the idea of going to college and working hard to get myself one of those great paying jobs with lots of benefits in kind. The type of job that will allow me to buy a €400,000 house in one of the housing estates in the counties surrounding Dublin. Then I will be able to spend hours commuting to and from my 12 hour working day and I can raise my children in a crèche. I just can’t wait.

So, you can imagine my dismay at the enormous amount of negative speculation on the world economy. The news is killing my whopper mortgage and childcare bill dream. Even for those of us with no interest in the economy, we have not been able to escape the reports on economic downturn, housing price plummets, and news of inflation at its highest rate in years.

However, I think the hard times we may have ahead are no harder than the ones we are living in now. Many young people come home to either babysitters or parents who are too exhausted and stressed to cook a decent meal or spend quality time with their children. Communication between families is often minimised to a quick, “Wer r u? Do u want dinner?” text from mammy. In my opinion, we’ve lost the run of ourselves.

We’ve become accustomed to plasma screens and oversized wardrobes. And in the process, we have lost our family values, our friendships and our welcoming approach, which have been replaced by overworked zombies with mush for manners. Maybe an economic depression is better than the personal depression many of us are living with.

The idea of not having the career that I have dreamed so much about is daunting and scares me to the core, but if that career jeopardises what’s really important in life, then I don’t want it. I’ll happily spend my life in a little but cosy family home, with just enough money to survive, without living in the lap of luxury, if it means that I have a good rapport with my future children and come Christmas time, I remember what my husband actually looks like.

The Celtic Tiger made Ireland one of Europe’s richest countries and considering we are so small that sounds like quite an achievement. However, if we look past the facts and figures and see what it has really given us, I am sure shame is all we can feel.

There are high rates of mental ill health, there are still homeless people on the streets, and there are sick people sitting on trolleys in corridors. If this is what the Celtic Tiger has given us, all I can say is bring on the recession. Maybe then we will rediscover what made the Irish truly unique over the years: our spirit and our morals.

 
By: Claire Finnegan

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