Recession is a myth

frank reynolds

i dont understand why people are comparing now to when people had loads of excess cash. that was TOO much money for people to get, and a lot of people spent it stupidly.

i have bills to pay, mortgage, management fees, tax - Paye, prsi, usc, union fees, and have got 5 pay cuts in the last 3 years.

so tell me again why we should feel sorry for someone who got used to having a selection of cars and a massive house and now are feeling the pain?

that's life. tough.

some people are better off than others, which is the norm in any society. so stop moaning cos nobody cares anymore. your own fault for being stupid in the "boom".

some of the attitudes on here would suggest that what's needed is communism and everyone earning the same wages, and that just aint gonna happen.

you made your beds, lie in them.

Wibbs

Things are tough for many of us out there and are certainly tougher than they were. We are in recession. However, it doesn't feel as bad as the Ireland of the 80's to me. Not yet anyway. We're certainly nowhere as in the shít as Spain and Greece. I've mates in both places and jesus it's scary to listen to their stories. EG if this was Boards.es, half of us under 30 would be unemployed. Greece is in a truly terrible state, with parents abandoning their children at schools and orphanages because they can't feed them anymore. Now this doesn't take away from those of us struggling at the mo in Ireland(and I'm in that boat myself), but for me anyway I thank my lucky stars that it could be far far worse.

Ush1

Company where my brother worked for 13 years was liquidated, proof enough for me.

downonthefarm

I remember my father told me in the eighties that people who were better off wouldn't be able to survive if they were in the same boat as we were. he was right.look at all the suicides by people that are in the ****.it's true the banks were throwing money at us but that didn't mean we had to take it

EyeSight

BuilderPlumber wrote: »

I know IT graduates from 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 have struggled to get anything decent. The dole or call centres seems to be the choice. Your class were lucky.

There are great IT jobs out there but they are often so niche based that they want Americans, etc. to fill them. Call centre jobs and some kind of bookings reservations jobs are often pointed to as good IT jobs. They are good summer jobs!

i am sorry but either you are lying or they must not be terrible at interviews. In my company alone we have loads of vacant spots. Every week on linked in i am getting job offers. I am not even that great!
IT is very non-niche. I have never heard of companies wanting "only americans". I cannot emphasis how wrong you are

BuilderPlumber

EyeSight wrote: »

i am sorry but either you are lying or they must not be terrible at interviews. In my company alone we have loads of vacant spots. Every week on linked in i am getting job offers. I am not even that great!
IT is very non-niche. I have never heard of companies wanting "only americans". I cannot emphasis how wrong you are

Maybe so in your company and others but the IT sector in Ireland is not at all healthy in my opinion. Anything to do with social media, media marketing, etc. are fine and admin work and computerised accounts, fine too. But a lot of the other things are on the wane especially a lot of the traditional programming. There are lots of jobs for business analysts and the like but are these IT or business.

Also, IT is area specific. Dublin has always had a higher amount of jobs in this sector than the rest of the country even in the glory days of 1992-1999.

BuilderPlumber

frank reynolds wrote: »

i dont understand why people are comparing now to when people had loads of excess cash. that was TOO much money for people to get, and a lot of people spent it stupidly.

i have bills to pay, mortgage, management fees, tax - Paye, prsi, usc, union fees, and have got 5 pay cuts in the last 3 years.

so tell me again why we should feel sorry for someone who got used to having a selection of cars and a massive house and now are feeling the pain?

that's life. tough.

some people are better off than others, which is the norm in any society. so stop moaning cos nobody cares anymore. your own fault for being stupid in the "boom".

some of the attitudes on here would suggest that what's needed is communism and everyone earning the same wages, and that just aint gonna happen.

you made your beds, lie in them.

I have no sympathy for people who took risks and borrowed all that money the banks were offering. I didn't and many more didn't. Other people made good money in property but rather than saving it, had to do it all again and their greed caught them out! Anyone who lived like this and took risks know the consequences. It is like betting on a horse. Some of them lose bigtime, some win bigtime!

But before and after the so-called Celtic Tiger and building boom, there were others who were honest but struggling and the state did not seem to have any interest in these then or now. But in a country where what you owe often means more what you earn, the person even on low wages who has not borrowed excessively and has savings is rich by comparison.

All that said and done, certain politicians and bankers have done wrong and deserve to be tried for their corrupt actions. I don't agree with austerity and resent the fact that we the innocent people who had nothing to do with our own reckless bankers and corrupt politicians (and on the international scene Bush's wars) have to clean up their mess for them. We could have told them all that their actions would end in tears (we were right but they wouldn't listen)!

Ray Palmer

BuilderPlumber wrote: »

Maybe so in your company and others but the IT sector in Ireland is not at all healthy in my opinion. Anything to do with social media, media marketing, etc. are fine and admin work and computerised accounts, fine too. But a lot of the other things are on the wane especially a lot of the traditional programming. There are lots of jobs for business analysts and the like but are these IT or business.

Also, IT is area specific. Dublin has always had a higher amount of jobs in this sector than the rest of the country even in the glory days of 1992-1999.

There are tons of IT jobs and programing jobs are all over the place. I made 4k last year referring people and was just asked this morning to find another programmer. A company I worked for closed and the 20 IT people all had new jobs in under 2 weeks. More than half within a week. The need for BAs is actually on the wain as agile becomes more popular.

the_monkey

cycnus wrote: »

Well thank Jebus for that. I was really worried for a few years there. But turns out some yuppy who got a sandwich in o'brein's has it all figured out.

I didn't get one, just observed these rip off cafes were packed.

Plazaman wrote: »

Bet your mates say "Roish" and drink "Heino"?

Nope, can't stand that accent ...

shane9689 wrote: »

i think the op is just suffering from culture shock...came from some poorer country and expected us to look like africa too. Or he came from Australia or the likes and is just ignorant to the fact that just because were losing doesnt mean we all suddenly live in shacks, its like getting shot in the stomach rather than the head...its slow and painful rather than quick and easy....and right now our government is borrowing blood to help make it look like were alive...but really its all pouring slowly out of that bullet hole

I live in Barcelona, and will be going back soon , don't get me wrong I love Ireland and coming home, it's just that I don't see much difference from when I observe people on the streets as I did 10 years ago.

SHOVELLER

So called poor people always have money for drink and the latest premierhsip jersey.

NuckingFacker

Sh1tbag OToole wrote: »

I bet you it doesnt grow exponentially though as the fractional reserve based economy has to in order to stay functioning. Else if you went on a holiday for a few months someone would have to cut your grass before it consumed all the available space in the universe

You've seen my lawn, so.

NuckingFacker

Ray Palmer wrote: »

There are tons of IT jobs and programing jobs are all over the place. I made 4k last year referring people and was just asked this morning to find another programmer. A company I worked for closed and the 20 IT people all had new jobs in under 2 weeks. More than half within a week. The need for BAs is actually on the wain as agile becomes more popular.

Mr T must be well peed off.

gurramok

SHOVELLER wrote: »

So called poor people always have money for drink and the latest premierhsip jersey.

Dole is 700+ odd a month. To the iphone crowd, you can "rent" an iphone from the mobile providers for about 40quid a month, its doable.

And yes, cigs and booze can be affordable. Before people jump on me, each persons circumstances on the dole is different. Some struggle on the dole, others do not.

Roger_007

There may be some technical definitions of recession and austerity but from my own experience most people I know are getting by ok. I have friends who are in negative equity, big mortgages etc. etc. but when you visit their houses they seem to have plenty of food and drink, the kids have stacks of toys. There seems to be no shortage of anything.
We keep getting these contradictory stories about kids going to school hungry, (mainly in deprived areas), and at the same time kids being obese, ( mainly in deprived areas).
People seem to think that just because we don't have as much money to spend as when the so-called Celtic Tiger was on the rampage, that we are now poor and deprived. The fact is that in terms of real purchasing power, most people are much better off now than they were just 15 years ago, especially those on old-age pensions and social welfare. How come nobody mentioned austerity then?
It seem s to me that the new definition of poverty is: 'not getting rich quickly enough'.

Sh1tbag OToole

There are loads of great jobs in IT. For people who arent you. Foreigners in other words who dont mind working a few days of unpaid overtime in a week. I say foreigners because there is a prevailing mentality that Irish people are lazy / want money for nothing / are bad programmers.

It is a hard industry to get into, without experience. A lot of places wont hear of a graduate. The way some people are talking in this thread you'd think anyone who can write an if statement gets hired but nothing could be further from the truth

LoonyLovegood

I laugh when people say recession is a myth. I really do. OP, would you like to live on my wages for a week? I promise you, having €15 left a week after your rent money is taken out is no fun.

Grandpa Hassan

The recession is not a myth, but it is binary. Generally speaking you're fooked, or else you're completely unaffected. doesn't seem to me like there is too much in between

Whilst boards is full of the experiences of overleveraged families, and welfare recipients finding their RA cut, it is still a struggle to get a table in an overpriced Dublin restaurant on a weekend.

If you're in work and you haven't over borrowed post 2005ish, it is very easy to think 'what recession?'. Most professional friends of mine are competely unaffected, bar a barely noticeable USC and a pretty modest property tax

Sh1tbag OToole

Grandpa Hassan wrote: »

The recession is not a myth, but it is binary. Generally speaking you're fooked, or else you're completely unaffected. doesn't seem to me like there is too much in between

Whilst boards is full of the experiences of overleveraged families, and welfare recipients finding their RA cut, it is still a struggle to get a table in an overpriced Dublin restaurant on a weekend.

If you're in work and you haven't over borrowed post 2005ish, it is very easy to think 'what recession?'. Most professional friends of mine are competely unaffected, bar a barely noticeable USC and a pretty modest property tax

Its as if the recession suddenly disappeared since I found a job. It is too easy to forget there are loads of people struggling when you walk past Cafe en Seine and see posh people drinking at every table

April O Neill

Ray Palmer wrote: »

A lot of people working in IT have no problems. So the OP could easily not see recession influence on his friends.

It easy enough to earn more now than the last few years in IT.

People saying everybody is suffering may want to take note that some regular people aren't suffering due to the industry they are in.

I'm sure most people know that some industries are doing well. I think it far more myopic to think that all industries are doing well because the OP's is, or rather, his friends' industry.

the_monkey

Went out to Malahide today to bring the kid to the playground with my wife and Mam, we went to Avoca afterwards....

What the f**k ???

€8 for a wrap ???

Plus €12 for entrance to the gardens !!! - we didn't go , but they were packed .

AFAIK the Botanics are free and way bigger ...

RECESSION ME HOLE !!!

Chucken

the_monkey wrote: »

Went out to Malahide today to bring the kid to the playground with my wife and Mam, we went to Avoca afterwards....

What the f**k ???

€8 for a wrap ???

Plus €12 for entrance to the gardens !!! - we didn't go , but they were packed .

AFAIK the Botanics are free and way bigger ...

RECESSION ME HOLE !!!

So considering Spain is also in recession, I suppose there are no people out and about strolling on Las Ramblas, buying over priced tat?

Sandwlch

the_monkey wrote: »

€8 for a wrap ???

RECESSION ME HOLE !!!

Not great at economics, but can anyone let me know what price for a wrap is now used by the IMF, World Bank, etc as the borderline between recession/non recession ?

losthorizon

Considering most posters on here are very young, probably don't have families or morgages, live at home and are students the recession really does not affect them. I think you have to be a worker to truly understand it.


Its ironic that the threads where people people got the most worked up about a subject were the Student grant system and the faint chance of censoring of the net.

Yet for the health of the nation of the whole these are side issues in the big scheme of things.

starlit

It still bad enough compared to the 80's its worse now but compared to going back years/decades might not be half as bad just cutting costs and so on.

There are still things that are pricey enough but there bargins out there if you know where to go shop around for good value.

Though where I am there are very little jobs unless you've experience or it unpaid. All the towns near me have some business closing down every so often so basically the recession is here to stay for some time yet.

Ya vast majority of us are young on this but like that now a lot of us might not have major responsibilities so can afford to do things when you single/not tied down.

There might be lots of jobs in IT but you could have every skill under the sun but might not be enough if you don't meet requirements of the job or have everything they want you to have plus experience, certs/qualifications, IT companies can be fussy who they hire as a lot of the Irish have to leave Ireland for these jobs and others meaning foreign investment/foreign employees are needed to fill in the skills shortages and to basically keep the country moving then again the likes of HP has had to reduce staff numbers so can't see IT companies staying here as many might relocate! That's a bad omen for Ireland unless they get investment from China as the US was always the one to support investment here but that has gone on the wayside as the US have a recession and a double dip recession when you include the Eu.

The price of housing has improved somewhat which is a good sign and people are spending a bit more in certain seasons especially during the hot weather sales increased but like that its a once in a blue moon kind of spending. I think people are minding their money but they are good to save that is why some people are able to afford things but I doubt everyone can go out an about and head out go on holidays all the time they have to save up to some extent whether they have a job or not.

Not everyone has a job some people are just very lucky and their those unfortunate that they don't or circustances get in the way.
Some industries are not affected as much compared to others but there is still the domino affect that one industry is badly affected it affects most other industries unless there is a boom in popularity and influx of jobs/people working in those industries.

The other issue is the country is run on borrowed money don't forget that!
Grr Nama!

darkdubh

the_monkey wrote: »

I am home for a few days in this great little nation.

What recession ?

All invented BS by the media

All my mates have good jobs, I go into town - everyone has an iPhone 5,
Rip off cafes charging €6 for a sandwich are packed.

Shopping bags packed , everyone seems to have Sky sports/movies/46 " 1080P TV Blu Ray ... etc etc...


Why are the media lying to us ??


I know no one affected by this "recession", maybe its cos most of my mates work in the IT industry...



And yet WTF I saw Clerys are shut down yesterday ??????


HMV too - I thought they were rescued tho ?

Are they all employed on a pirate ship?Ahoy Matey!