was anybody well off before the celtic tiger?

yuppies

When ye were growing up in the 70s, 80s, early 90's, did you know anyone who came from a wealthy/ relatively well-off family? Everybodys' accounts of the times before the celtic tiger are that nobody had a pot to piss in.. and while my own parents could have attested to that, surely some people had money?

cml387

Of course. I remember visiting a house in the early 70's that had a *gasp* colour television.And all the channels.
It all came to a bad end I'm afraid when they lost all their money in the recession of the mid 70's (property investment).
So you see there's absolutely nothing new about this recession.

Dr Turk Turkelton

cml387 wrote: »

Of course. I remember visiting a house in the early 70's that had a *gasp* colour television.And all the channels.
It all came to a bad end I'm afraid when they lost all their money in the recession of the mid 70's (property investment).
So you see there's absolutely nothing new about this recession.

Was this your first time to see a 32" bush?

cml387

Cuchulainn1. wrote: »

Was this your first time to see a 32" bush?

No,it was a Philips.

You see that joke doesn't work on any level.

HavingCrack

Yeah one side of my family would have been considered quite well off. There were 5 children and they were all able to afford go to college in the pre free fees days. I think 2 of them might have attended private schools also. They also owned a car in the 1960's and 1970's which would have been very unusual.

There has always been middle and upper class people in Ireland throughout it's history, it's nothing new. However the numbers would have been lower obviously.

kitakyushu

My next door neighbours ran a transport business in the early 80s and were relatively well off at the time it appeared. They had stuff like several tv's in the house, camcorders three room extensions to the house and multiple cars. Trips to America and the lot. Worse still they had connections in cash-n-carry/wholesalers etc so could get lots of desirable items at cost (toys and electronics). They had a VCR in 1983 when I think we didn't get one in our house until around 1989?

As a result I felt very deprived as a kid. Looking back tho I think my own family were probably doing alright just to be keeping their head above water. However there was no keeping up with these particular Jones's.

xflyer

Yes, there were people who had money before the Celtic Tiger. Lots of them. The only trouble was that people who had money had more money. But the people who had no money now had jobs that they never had before and most importantly now had access to credit. This led them to believe the good times had arrived. That was their mistake.

Now those same people are accused of being greedy, of being the arbiters of their own misfortune. Of being selfish. Of being the cause of the demise of the Celtic Tiger.

They are the people who have walked away from houses they cannot afford. They're the people who are being screwed by the this government for the criminality of the developers and the bankers.

But the people who were always rich, remain rich and will remain rich.

The rest of us just thought we just ordinary.

LandoCalrissian

At the time I thought perhaps we were sold short wearing our Strider runners a la Dunnes Boutique
But in hindsight summer getaways to Skerries and any excuse to go and do things as a family tells me that the Celtic Tiger ain't all it's cracked up to be.
At the moment I'm 8 wks away from getting married and all I hope for myself is that I can enjoy with my kids, the things that i had ie. running through St. Annes Park pretending that every tree was a base and that every other ruin was an enemy HQ!!!

In essence fcuk the Celtic Tiger it doesn't matter if you have a pot to piss in

Just ensure you do it as a family!!!!

LandoCalrissian

Sorry but to answer the question asked by the OP
Yes we were well off prior to the Celtic Tiger but we had no money

............ What is well off ..........

I know so many families that are "minted" but don't even talk to each other to me
= bankrupt!!!!

fryup

there was no class distinction in ireland before the celtic tiger, we were all paddys in a sinking ship

InReality

we were kinda well off in the 80's.
Had more toys at xmas than the other kids in school.
Was a mixed bag though , parents were always worrying about money and work , and got a bit of bullying at school as well , which i think was a bit a bit due to jealousy as much as anything else.

AnimalCracker

Most of the Big houses in places like Foxrock and Ballsbridge were built ages before the Celtic Tiger so Id say there were a few, minority though

annascott

Yes of course we did. There just wasn't anything to spend it on though. Good shops, coffee shops and restaurants were a very limited. (they still are compared to England, Germany, France etc..) Personally, the celtic tiger gave me more disposeable income and allowed me to take more European city breaks, long weekends in spa hotels and dinner out with friends two or three times a week. My expenses were more than double what they are now. Everything has been cut back, and there is always the fear of work hours and expenses being cut.

mikemac1

A BMW or a Mercedes used to mean something

If you had one it said a lot about you

Nowadays they are common as muck

iguana

I didn't know him back then but I think my husband's family were. When he was a kid his family went on holiday to America and went to Disneyworld, Seaworld and Universal Studios in Florida, then on to stay with relatives in another state for a few weeks. They also went to Niagra falls and visited Canada. He thinks that's normal as it was their family 'holiday of a lifetime' but as most people in the 80s were lucky to have a week in Butlins/Mosney, they might has well have been millionaires. Also they went to north America as kids twice so it wasn't a one off trip of a lifetime.

But I'm not jealous I thought Mosney was the shít, definitely better than a week in a caravan at Ballybunion.

fryup

mikemac1 wrote: »

A BMW or a Mercedes used to mean something

If you had one it said a lot about you

Nowadays they are common as muck

yes all sorts of riff raff are driving them, its just not on

Clareboy

During the 70s and 80s, I always had a job, and I could afford to buy a new car with cash. I travelled the world, staying in the best hotels and eating in the the best restaurants. I also got married and bought a house. All that from just a lowly hotel job! I pity the young people of today because at least during the 70s and 80s Irish people could get a job in their own country. Looking back, yes I was much better off then.

philstar

anybody well off before the celtic tiger?

i'm sure the kellys were;)

John C

yuppies wrote: »

When ye were growing up in the 70s, 80s, early 90's, did you know anyone who came from a wealthy/ relatively well-off family? Everybodys' accounts of the times before the celtic tiger are that nobody had a pot to piss in.. and while my own parents could have attested to that, surely some people had money?

I recall a family in Cork city with lots of property there, from which
they had a large rental income.
Their two sons graduated from UCC and UCD in the seventies. Their mother
purchased each of them a 80 acre farm from her bank account.
In the eighties one son had at least three houses and a large warehouse with
rental income in Cork city. He still had his farm and a full time job as a well paid manager.

This man is described as being born with a silver spoon in his mouth.
He was not the only one in Ireland before the Celtic tiger.

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During my student says my landlord had three houses divided into flats rented to students.
He had a decent income and lifestyle.
In the vicinity of UCC there were many rented houses. Someone owned those houses and had rental income.

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Most companies salary structure is pyramid structured. The manager of a
1.000 person firm gets much more than a shop floor worker.
In Cork city alone there would have been hundreds of these managers.