Understanding the ramifications of the Celtic Tiger Phenomenon (pre+post) need help!

QueenB

Hey everybody!
im an international relations student and im doing research about the cultural phenomenon that developed in ireland since the rise of the celtic tiger..(and `the morning after´)
I lived in dublin for a while so i was able to experience the stereotypical social groups myself, and tho i do understand the major differences between northside/southside dublin, and basically the rest of the country, i cant say that ive experienced them all first hand.
id appreciate any opinions or theories you have about what lead to the major kinds of lifestyles (skangers, d4s and ROCK followers, 'reak irish', culchies, etcs) and whats it like now that the pot of gold is basically empty for most.
i wanna point out that this is not about who is better or worse, but how is it that such diverse and strong stereotypes emerged, cos the thing is that, compared to other countries around the world, even tho most of them have their own "skangers, d4s and culchies" none of the many has as strong characteristics as this one.
i also want to add that im just developing the idea of my paper properly as i'm writing this so any other suggestions would be gladly accepted!

Dennis the Stone

http://tinyurl.com/5jb6jw

Purple Gorilla

To me, the biggest group that developed were the middle class who were living way beyond their means. It was a case of "Keeping up with the Jones" (I despise that phrase)

A family I know, they re-mortgaged their house and bought an apartment in Spain at a huge price which they then re-mortgaged too and now it is in negative equity.

A better example is another family I know who wanted so much to be wealthy. The mother would always buy clothes they couldn't afford and they remortgaged their house so they could get a BMW. The husband didn't have a job and just golfed...in a golf club he couldn't afford the membership to. They've passed it on to their children who are complete snobs now... the daughter refused to do Transition Year Work Experience in a Hairdressers because she said she was above it, and the son (who is 20) cried when his mom came home with shopping from Lidl. He now makes her bring Dunnes Stores bags to Lidl to put her groceries in.

Tellox

Purple Gorilla wrote: »

the daughter refused to do Transition Year Work Experience in a Hairdressers because she said she was above it, and the son (who is 20) cried when his mom came home with shopping from Lidl. He now makes her bring Dunnes Stores bags to Lidl to put her groceries in.

Dunnes Stores bags to put Lidl groceries in. Christ, that's hardly a leap and a bound above the rest.

To be honest, I never really lived above my means - and now that we're in a recession, I'm not feeling any pinch.. bar of course getting to shout "recession!" whenever a charity mugger approaches me.

None of my immediate family or friends have lost their jobs, so there's no real looking out for anyone that needs to be done. Shops are lowering their prices on a lot of goods, which has made life easier really.

That, and I'm not really afraid of losing my job - considering the huge amount of money that the dole pays out, and rent allowance.. I still wouldn't really be living any differently. Of course, it's the laxadazy attitude towards the dole which will likely see this country fall into an even bigger mess.. but there you go :rolleyes:

markok84

Purple Gorilla wrote: »

the son (who is 20) cried when his mom came home with shopping from Lidl. He now makes her bring Dunnes Stores bags to Lidl to put her groceries in.

How did you find out about that!!! :eek: