Ireland and the Celtic Tiger

mr_fegelien

What was it like during those times? pre-2006. I only arrived in Ireland in 2010 as a young kid in first year so didn't experience the boom or wealth only arrived for the **** that went down.

Was it really true that 20-25yr old like me with no job were given loans of €500?

Halcyon days. You could pitch a tent at the Galway races and hustle a few bob.

Ipso

Mutton dressed as lamb

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

We partied night and day.:rolleyes:

freshpopcorn

Watch a few episodes of Reeling in the Years!

EmmetSpiceland

Getting a lift to school in a limo, if the helicopter was “in for repairs”. Great days, we’ll never see their like again.

Leg End Reject

Decking and jet skis were essential, and every yummy mummy needed a huge SUV for the 15 minute drive to an urban school.

Starter homes and the property ladder were a national obsession.

Good times though!

whisky_galore

All fur coat and no knickers.

2011

There was no boom, there was just cheap credit that was made available to anyone in unlimited quantities and many of us made pigs of ourselves without considering that someday we would have to pay it all back. It was fantastic (for a while).

questionmark?

mr_fegelien wrote: »

What was it like during those times? pre-2006. I only arrived in Ireland in 2010 as a young kid in first year so didn't experience the boom or wealth only arrived for the **** that went down.

Was it really true that 20-25yr old like me with no job were given loans of €500?

A loan of €500? Add one or two more zeros there. Banks were thrown out money like confetti. It was utterly ridiculous what went on and many paid the price not least the huge numbers forced to emigrate or the directly linked housing crisis we now find ourselves in.

Oh and don't forget the decking. Everyone had to have frigging decking!!!

Ipso

whisky_galore wrote: »

All fur coat and no knickers.

Quit your cribbing on the side lines

dxhound2005

The poor oul Celtic Tiger was found drowned in a pothole in Cavan.

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy

In fairness, banks were firing loans at you. I strolled in as a first year apprentice earning a grand a month, wanting a loan of €2500 for a car. The loan officer looked up my car online, showed me a nicer one costing €5000, convinced me to go for that one instead, as well as a credit card with a limit of €750. I was only a kid, I just signed everything in front of me and sauntered out owing €5750 :rolleyes:

Will I Am Not

questionmark? wrote: »

Oh and don't forget the decking. Everyone had to have frigging decking!!!

Well you could hardly serve the foie gras and Moët on the grass :rolleyes:

joebloggs32

2011 wrote: »

There was no boom, there was just cheap credit that was made available to anyone in unlimited quantities and many of us made pigs of ourselves without considering that someday we would have to pay it all back. It was fantastic (for a while).

Many still not to fussed about paying it back!

"Where in the World" would that happen 😉

buried

Was grand if you stayed away from it and let it off.
Just like a real tiger that will rip your face off if you get too close.

Sephiroth_dude

Everyone was like this





and this





aaaannndd this

Oberkon

Taxi drivers had the full low down on the Croatian property market or was it Bulgaria , either way apparently all buying them as investors

Sunny Disposition

Most of us were drunk for a lot of it, but times were good.
Happened quite fast, we were getting richer but still thought like peasants until about 2000 but had the psychology of billionaires by 2004.
Houses sprung up everywhere, new cars everywhere, new motorways, pubs packed, people partied hard.
Think it’s not hard to see the boom bust thing happening again and again, governments here always think short term and want to put money in our pockets quickly, all favour low tax at all times.

Your Face

Two things stick out in memory:

I got offered an overdraft via the atm.
I went to the bank to get a new debit card and was offered a mortgage and a car loan.
Should have taken the mortgage but that's not for now.

kneemos

2011 wrote: »

There was no boom, there was just cheap credit that was made available to anyone in unlimited quantities and many of us made pigs of ourselves without considering that someday we would have to pay it all back. It was fantastic (for a while).

Plenty of money was made by some,all of that credit went somewhere.
Those old or smart enough knew it was going to end. Or anybody who thought about it for five seconds.

Doc07

Your Face wrote: »

Two things stick out in memory:

I got offered an overdraft via the atm.
I went to the bank to get a new debit card and was offered a mortgage and a car loan.
Should have taken the mortgage but that's not for now.

This!!!
I got an unsolicited call approx once a month for about 6 months asking me to take out mortgage, car loan and extra pension. This was in 2007/08 when the banks already knew they were ****ed but wouldn’t admit it. Bank even sent someone to meet me at work when I said I was too busy. I actually sat down with a bank guy in the coffee shop of a hospital in scrubs discussing 100% mortgages and all manner of pension funds I didn’t even pretend to understand.

Luckily I didn’t follow through with any of the offers, not because I’m a great economist , I was just to busy and didn’t fill out any of the paperwork.

Then about 2 months later it all fell apart and Brian Cowen went on Telly saying we were getting an ‘overdraft’ facility from the ECB. Good times!

I think apart from the few motorways there is nothing to show from the glory days and as someone has said already, there was no real boom, just cheap credit.

Portsalon

kneemos wrote: »

Plenty of money was made by some,all of that credit went somewhere.
Those old or smart enough knew it was going to end. Or anybody who thought about it for five seconds.

Anecdotally, the farmer who sold two fields at the edge of his local town to the local auctioneer/developer for a very attractive price. At the urging of his bank manager, he immediately invested the proceeds in what used to be called "gilts" - shares in Bank of Ireland, AIB and Anglo-Irish Bank! :eek:

Four Phucs Ache

Decking. Decking everywhere.

And blue led lights on the decking steps to lead you to the kitchen where there was always a table full of cold cocktail sausages.

archer22

It was a time when if you went into Lidl or Aldi you would see only foreigners doing their shopping in there.

riclad

Banks were offering loans to almost everyone ,the price of house,s was going up every month,
people thought we were all smart,
we will never have another recession.
aH sure pay 250 k for a house in cavan,There s no way house prices could
ever decline.
People were acutally looking at buying apartments in bulgaria as an investment,
it was so easy to get credit.
People were obsessed with property prices .
When the crash came it was brutal .
Overnight an apartment bought for 200k,
was now worth 100k.
Some people simply left the country and moved to the uk,
to declare bankruptcy .
When you owe the bank so much and you are in negative equity ,
its easier to start all over again .the building industry basicly stopped
in some countys outside dublin ,
Most builders were taken over by nama .
Imagine living in an estate where half the house,s are empty
and construction is not complete ,
And the builder is no longer in business .
Its like driving a new bmw one week,
the next week you are getting the bus to work.
The bmw is repossessed .
And may people had all their savings invested in banks,
whose share s were now worth nothing.
And the government borrowed 200 billion to rescue the banks,
a lot of people responsible for this mess retired with a nice pension.

completedit

archer22 wrote: »

It was a time when if you went into Lidl or Aldi you would see only foreigners doing their shopping in there.

Remember when Lidl was just frozen kebabs pizzas and sweets haha. They've come along way

ChikiChiki

Was a great time as a teenager growing up. Designer clothes and a brand new Beemer in the driveway every year and lots of foreign holidays. Then around late 2007 the Beemer became an crapped out Almera which didnt leave the driveway for about 10 years.:o

I look back and it was all a load of credit fuelled dick measuring ****e anyway.

jcorr

mr_fegelien wrote: »

What was it like during those times? pre-2006. I only arrived in Ireland in 2010 as a young kid in first year so didn't experience the boom or wealth only arrived for the **** that went down.

Was it really true that 20-25yr old like me with no job were given loans of €500?

I was broke during the boom, but actually got a job when the recession hit!

But then again...I was always fashionably late haha

archer22

In every car passing the occupants had sunglasses on top of their heads regardless of the weather or whether it was night or day.