Was Ireland always this bleek/depressing, or is it just me?

mariaalice

Because it is AH it's very hard to tell whether its an individual with depression who has decided to locate their issue back to growing up in Ireland in the 1980s or and individual with a genuine point.

On balance Ireland has a lot going for it.

GDK_11

Aongus Von Bismarck wrote: »

I'm an Irish expat working in Germany. One of the things that has become apparent to me about the country of my birth is how blind the average Irish person is to just how good they have it.

Third on the UN HDI index, just behind Norway and Switzerland, and ahead of countries like Sweden, Denmark, Germany (yes, we have many of the same issues - ICU capacity made the frontpage of our main broadsheet only this week), Australia, NZ, and Canada. That's ranked on access to education, life expectancy at birth, and standards of living.

You are some of the luckiest people who have ever lived. We are the 1%. Our post war social democracies delivered the EU and a quality of life that would amaze our forefathers.

Ireland is an absolutely fantastic place in which to live.

I’m from London but have lived in Ireland for pretty much a decade now. I sometimes still miss home, I miss the hustle and bustle and find Dublin like a big town in comparison.

However, you’re completely right about people in Ireland not realising how good they have it, my quality of life is very similar if not better due to the cost of housing here (I know it’s expensive but compared to London it’s relatively cheap). Decent place to live with generally good people, only strange thing is I never thought I would have to go back to London for a sun holiday!!

There is no utopia out there but like you say if you live in Ireland, you’re very lucky in the grand scheme of things.

Lillyfae

Deleted User wrote: »

As for Amsterdam, I always felt it to be a very superficial city. Lovely on the surface, but a lot of grime just below. Good for a weekend but I never wanted to live there.

It's quite big though. I'm not mad about the centre but love Oost. If I go to Amsterdam I rarely go into the centre, apart from with visiting friends to a museum or to a gig. Having said that the transport connections are fantastic and simple to navigate.

I'm happier out in the sticks though, and "below the rivers" it's very different.

Lillyfae

Lillyfae wrote: »

It's quite big though. I'm not mad about the centre but love Oost. If I go to Amsterdam I rarely go into the centre, apart from with visiting friends to a museum or to a gig. Having said that the transport connections are fantastic and simple to navigate.

I'm happier out in the sticks though, and "below the rivers" it's very different.

Amsterdam would have been the first 'big' city I spent much time in. Went there over 20 times within three years, since I used to be a stoner. Loved it.. for what it was. The museums are gorgeous, as is a lot of the architecture, and the range of bakeries is sublime (some great steak restaurants too). Since then, however, I've traveled extensively, living in a wide range of cities of similar size, or bigger. I'd still consider Amsterdam to be a 'nice' city, but not better than somewhere like Munich, Kyoto or Tokyo. (which are my favorites)

All cities have their pros/cons... but I wouldn't be considering Amsterdam as being a particularly fine example of one. TBH I had a better time in Eindhoven, and still prefer it to Amsterdam as a place to stay. (Although, I should admit that it's been 5-6 years since the last time I was there)

Mad_maxx

Deleted User wrote: »

Same. I left Ireland glad to be leaving, and each time I return I'm impressed by how much it's changed (positive/negative). The weather is much better (thanks global warming), better road infrastructure, more convenience, less of a macho culture, etc. It's improved so much in twenty years.. I think people are expecting too much from Ireland. We don't have the resources, or history of other nations to be as built up or modern.. but Ireland has done very well with what it has.

All in all, I love returning to Ireland whenever I do.

As for Amsterdam, I always felt it to be a very superficial city. Lovely on the surface, but a lot of grime just below. Good for a weekend but I never wanted to live there.

whatever about anything else , the weather is if anything more wet nowadays

Mad_maxx

Seamai wrote: »

It's my least favourite European capital, tacky, tightfisted, grubby and unfriendly. Give me Berlin anyday.

visit budapest , makes amsterdam seem like the friendliest place on earth

Mad_maxx

Mad_maxx wrote: »

whatever about anything else , the weather is if anything more wet nowadays

Not in the midlands. At least, per my memories, the weather is far better than it was before.

The Raging Bile Duct

donkeykong5 wrote: »

It was a great place to live up to approximately 6 years ago.

What happened 6 years ago?

Mad_maxx

always find it amusing how some people view change and throwing out the old as unconditionally positive

anyone who thinks the legalisation of prostitution as a great leap forward , is grimly lacking in ambition in my book

bo0li5eumx12kp

Mad_maxx wrote: »

always find it amusing how some people view change and throwing out the old as unconditionally positive

anyone who thinks the legalisation of prostitution as a great leap forward , is grimly lacking in ambition in my book

Not legalization.

Legitimization.

completedit

Mad_maxx wrote: »

always find it amusing how some people view change and throwing out the old as unconditionally positive

anyone who thinks the legalisation of prostitution as a great leap forward , is grimly lacking in ambition in my book

Same ilk who'd have been fawning over Hitler in the 20's and I'm not being facetious

Seamai

Mad_maxx wrote: »

visit budapest , makes amsterdam seem like the friendliest place on earth

I was in Budapest 20 years ago and was shocked at how unfriendly Hungarians were, I even told the receptionist in the hotel that she should try to smile once in a while, horrible.
Was back there last year and felt it had improved quite a bit but then again I was only there for three nights, they're quite a morose race.

completedit

Yeah why are people from Budapest like that? I think from spending time in central(eastern) Europe, the idea of social pleasantness is just different. They don't value that kind of casual superficial(not the right word because has a negative connotation) niceness like the way we do in the Anglo world.

Seamai

completedit wrote: »

Yeah why are people from Budapest like that? I think from spending time in central(eastern) Europe, the idea of social pleasantness is just different. They don't value that kind of casual superficial(not the right word because has a negative connotation) niceness like the way we do in the Anglo world.

Hugarians aren't Slavs like most of their neighbours, but making a generalisation here I find many eastern Europeans borderline rude though my experience of Romanians (not Roma) is more positive. Some put it down to spending a couple of generations under communism when a lot of the fun was sucked out of life and nobody trusted anyone, however my OH grew up in the US with a Polish /Italian foster family, even as a young kid he felt that the two sides of the family were like chalk and cheese, he reckons that Slav's dourness goes back much further than communism.
Until about 1000 years ago the Magyars were nomadic, maybe being settled doesn't suit them.

Thelonious Monk

It's grand, the weather doesn't bother me really, only in summer because it's the hope that kills you, waiting for some warm sunshine and it never comes. But this being a rich country means most people can afford to feck off to the Med for a few weeks a year if they want sunshine. I've lived in cities that would offer more to me than Dublin does, but overall life is a lot easier here for me.

Kaybaykwah

Seamai wrote: »

I was in Budapest 20 years ago and was shocked at how unfriendly Hungarians were, I even told the receptionist in the hotel that she should try to smile once in a while, horrible.
Was back there last year and felt it had improved quite a bit but then again I was only there for three night, they're quite a morose race.

I was there 5 years ago and really got akick out of the architecture and the food. On the joviality front, they are not at the top of the list, for sure. I remember we hada superb breakfast at Gerbauds, and the hostess greeted us with a riding whip. I was afraid to let my wife head for the loo lest they throw her in the oven. I loved the city though.

bertiebomber

Kaybaykwah wrote: »

I was there 5 years ago and really got akick out of the architecture and the food. On the joviality front, they are not at the top of the list, for sure. I remember we hada superb breakfast at Gerbauds, and the hostess greeted us with a riding whip. I was afraid to let my wife head for the loo lest they throw her in the oven. I loved the city though.

I worked with a hungarian couple they are miserable people no humour just really hard done by give me an irish person any day f the week

Thelonious Monk

Yes I heard Budapest was a bit dreary, the people anyway. It looks beautiful though. I always found the Spanish to be a cheerful bunch, they seem to have good lives there. One of the longest living people in the world too, must be the Med diet and all that time outdoors.

Frankie Machine

Depends on what you want to emphasise of course, but to me The Eighties can be a lot more depressing in retrospect than they were at the time.

I mean, 'Reeling In The Years' rarely makes us look good, but the lyrics of 'I Useta Love Her' are laugh out loud funny to me.

It gets tiresome reading commentary from people weren't even born then, about how oppressive Catholic Ireland was.

We weren't as emotionally open, maybe, but we still had great friends and great times growing up.

And we never really believed we'd go blind, as we dedicated another one to Gabriela Sabatini, or Nena in her leather britches.

And though too many of us had to go away, for anyone who found the place that oppressive, London was available. Many then discovered the truth in the old saying about far away hills.

bertiebomber

Iireland was a great country, getting a bit overly liberal these days the other extreme from catholic domination so its a fine line to balance your life here.

The latest liberal call for mercy killing is not an ireland i recognise i remember when we loved our grand parents and looked after them at home till they passed. Some of the ideals & practices of new ireland leave a lot to be desired - just sayin'

Thelonious Monk

bertiebomber wrote: »

Iireland was a great country, getting a bit overly liberal these days the other extreme from catholic domination so its a fine line to balance your life here.

The latest liberal call for mercy killing is not an ireland i recognise i remember when we loved our grand parents and looked after them at home till they passed. Some of the ideals & practices of new ireland leave a lot to be desired - just sayin'

Yes because if we change this law it'll be like Logan's Run, without the cool 70s haircuts!

smellyoldboot

Seamai wrote: »

Hugarians aren't Slavs like most of their neighbours, but making a generalisation here I find many eastern Europeans borderline rude though my experience of Romanians (not Roma) is more positive. Some put it down to spending a couple of generations under communism when a lot of the fun was sucked out of life and nobody trusted anyone, however my OH grew up in the US with a Polish /Italian foster family, even as a young kid he felt that the two sides of the family were like chalk and cheese, he reckons that Slav's dourness goes back much further than communism.
Until about 1000 years ago the Magyars were nomadic, maybe being settled doesn't suit them.

Non-Roma Romanians oddly enough aren't Slavic either, I could be wildly wrong but Romanian being essentially modernised Latin, they are likely more closely related to Southern Europeans than their neighbours. Would explain the difference in attitude/demeanor perhaps.

john123470

bertiebomber wrote: »

Iireland was a great country ...The latest liberal call for mercy killing is not an ireland i recognise i remember when we loved our grand parents and looked after them at home till they passed. Some of the ideals & practices of new ireland leave a lot to be desired - just sayin'

"For men were born to pray and save:
Romantic Ireland’s dead and gone,
It’s with O’Leary in the grave." Sept. 1913, Yeats

.. you could argue it was all our grandparents knew at the time. They were god-fearin ..

We've moved aggressively in the opposite direction.
Mad as 'the church' was, it did provide a spirit of community .. with a few rules and regs thrown in to keep men on the straight ..

Thelonious Monk

john123470 wrote: »

Mad as 'the church' was, it did provide a spirit of community .. with a few rules and regs thrown in to keep men on the straight ..

Yes and f*cked kids whenever they got a chance! Good riddance.

john123470

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

Yes and f*cked kids whenever they got a chance! Good riddance.

Well, thats an overstatenent. A % of them, sure.

And maybe the whole lot of them were marching under a misguided banner .. but not all of them f*cked kids.
There were a majoriry of dedicated men / women who, im sure, tried to live a good life and contribute selflessly in the fields of education and medicine. We have several examples

Its a bit Daily Mail to say they were all sexual perverts

Frankie Machine

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

Yes and f*cked kids whenever they got a chance! Good riddance.

It was interesting to listen to Mannix Flynn on the radio a few weeks back.

His insight on this issue was a lot more measured, and thus more interesting, than yours.

Just saying.

vriesmays

Seamai wrote: »

Hugarians aren't Slavs like most of their neighbours, but making a generalisation here I find many eastern Europeans borderline rude though my experience of Romanians (not Roma) is more positive.

A lot more people in Hungary and Romania own their own homes than the Irish do.

bertiebomber

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

Yes and f*cked kids whenever they got a chance! Good riddance.

Beware the new liberals want to **** a lot more kids, reducing age of consent, exposing young children to trans issues that they certainly dont need to be confused with last two children ministers both homosexual compare to the church DEUCE id say if we were playing tennis no difference just very strange really the church ****ed kids and the new liberals want to do the same only they want to do it in your face !! Just sayin' how it looks .......

Thelonious Monk

john123470 wrote: »

Well, thats an overstatenent. A % of them, sure.

And maybe the whole lot of them were marching under a misguided banner .. but not all of them f*cked kids.
There were a majoriry of dedicated men / women who, im sure, tried to live a good life and contribute selflessly in the fields of education and medicine. We have several examples

Its a bit Daily Mail to say they were all sexual perverts

Loads of them f*cked kids. A crazy amount of them. Loads of them who didn't covered it up. Loads of Irish people ignored the horrors. If it was anything but the Catholic church carrying on like that, their organisation would have been shut down a long time ago.
Apart from the kid f*cking, they were horrible to women, tried to control young people, the list goes on.
Ireland is a lot less bleak since no one takes them seriously any more.

Seamai

vriesmays wrote: »

A lot more people in Hungary and Romania own their own homes than the Irish do.

That may well be the case but every Romanian I ever met here (I worked with quite a few) shared the same opinion of their native country......that it was an absolute sh1thole.