Ireland the 1980s

22-09-2016 01:05PM #1

Ireland in the 1980s has the reputation of being a basket case unemployment 20% etc, however if you looked from one side of Dublin to the other including all the suburbs, a huge amount of housing was built in the 1980s massive housing estates in all the suburbs, its the same in Limerick not sure about Cork or Galway but probably the same so who was buying all the housing if there was such massive unemployment.

In an era of massive unemployment people were able to buy houses and now in an era of lowering unemployment the same subset of people can not afford a house.

gifted · 22-09-2016 01:06PM

Bono

Winterlong · 22-09-2016 01:07PM

Looking at my own street (for the 1970s)
The average industrial wage in 1975 was €3518 per annum.
In 1975 you could rent a house on our street for €90 a month.
You could buy the same house for €12,700.

In 2016 the average industrial wage is €32,000
The same house can be rented for €1800 per month.
You could buy it for €430,000.

Not very scientific but the cost of housing was a lot less back then relative to wages. So there was more demand, less developed land and less regulations making it easier to build/buy?

Snakeblood · 22-09-2016 01:24PM

mariaalice wrote: »

Ireland in the 1980s has the reputation of being a basket case unemployment 20% etc, however if you looked from one side of Dublin to the other including all the suburbs, a huge amount of housing was built in the 1980s massive housing estates in all the suburbs, its the same in Limerick not sure about Cork or Galway but probably the same so who was buying all the housing if there was such massive unemployment.

In an eras of massive unemployment people were able to buy houses and now in an eras of lowering unemployment the same subset of people can not afford a house.

House prices were cheaper. Interest rates were higher.

How do you know it's the same subset?

22-09-2016 01:38PM

Snakeblood wrote: »

House prices were cheaper. Interest rates were higher.

How do you know it's the same subset?

Well maybe not exactly the same subset but in general two working adults.

Minderbinder · 22-09-2016 01:47PM

My only memory of the 1980's is those multi-coloured carpets with flower designs and the likes on them.

22-09-2016 01:51PM

mariaalice wrote: »

...its the same in Limerick not sure about Cork or Galway but probably the same so who was buying all the housing if there was such massive unemployment.

In an era of massive unemployment people were able to buy houses and now in an era of lowering unemployment the same subset of people can not afford a house.

But...there was massive unemployment. And emigration. The stats are all there. I don't think anecdotal evidence about estates being built changes that, and I don't remember too much going up in Cork at all.

We held a concert to address the unemployment crisis. Cactus World News played. It don't get much worse than that.

22-09-2016 01:56PM

Deleted User wrote: »

But...there was massive unemployment. And emigration. The stats are all there. I don't think anecdotal evidence about estates being built changes that, and I don't remember too much going up in Cork at all.

We held a concert to address the unemployment crisis. Cactus World News played. It don't get much worse than that.

I am not disagreeing with the statistics but that does not take away from the fact that there was massive house building in the likes of Tallagh and Swords and other suburbs in Dublin in the 1980s my point is who was buying them if unemployment was so high there seems to be a disconnect between the statistics and what was happening on the ground.

22-09-2016 02:03PM

mariaalice wrote: »

I am not disagreeing with the statistics but that does not take away from the fact that there was massive house building in the likes of Tallagh and Swords and other suburbs in Dublin in the 1980s my point is who was buying them if unemployment was so high there seems to be a disconnect between the statistics and what was happening on the ground.

I would have thought most of the building in Tallaght took place in the 70s when it went from being a small town to having a population similar to Limerick.

Acc to Wiki, it went from 6k to 55k between 1971 and 1981. I'd say things were fairly stagnant after that, bar developing the Square.

riclad · 22-09-2016 02:06PM

Many of the houses were built by the councils and cost a lot less to build
in the 80s, wages were low.
It costs 150k plus to build a council house now.
Now the government owes millions due to the crash .
Also sites for building were cheaper in the 70,s 80s .

MeatTwoVeg · 22-09-2016 02:08PM

mariaalice wrote:

so who was buying all the housing if there was such massive unemployment.

Maybe some of the 80% who weren't unemployed.

22-09-2016 02:12PM

MeatTwoVeg wrote: »

Maybe some of the 80% who weren't unemployed.

That is a very interesting point, the internet, the media and the amount of accesses to information we have now has reshaped how we view the past.

ohnonotgmail · 22-09-2016 02:13PM

Deleted User wrote: »

But...there was massive unemployment. And emigration. The stats are all there. I don't think anecdotal evidence about estates being built changes that, and I don't remember too much going up in Cork at all.

We held a concert to address the unemployment crisis. Cactus World News played. It don't get much worse than that.

it was a grim time indeed.

22-09-2016 02:15PM

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

it was a grim time indeed.

I am not saying it was not a grim time I was an adult in the 1980s but that is not the whole story.

Dravokivich · 22-09-2016 02:17PM

mariaalice wrote: »

In an era of massive unemployment people were able to buy houses and now in an era of lowering unemployment the same subset of people can not afford a house.

It's because of schemes that were introduced to allow people on low income to purchase a house. My folks got a place under a scheme in the mid 80's their mortgage payments would be 20% of salary the highest earner, regardless of what that income amount was. This allowed for people who could lose their job to still have a payment they could make while on the dole. They ended up using the savings scheme Fianna Fail brought in to pay it off.

The bars have been set higher now due to an inflated market that's on the rise again and with income thresholds being rigidly kept to for mortgage approval, the chances of low income earners purchasing have become pretty unlikey.

ohnonotgmail · 22-09-2016 02:20PM

mariaalice wrote: »

I am not saying it was not a grim time I was an adult in the 1980s but that is not the whole story.

i was referring specifically to self aid.

SEPT 23 1989 · 22-09-2016 02:21PM

both parents working is the reason

The J Stands for Jay · 22-09-2016 02:22PM

mariaalice wrote: »

I am not disagreeing with the statistics but that does not take away from the fact that there was massive house building in the likes of Tallagh and Swords and other suburbs in Dublin in the 1980s my point is who was buying them if unemployment was so high there seems to be a disconnect between the statistics and what was happening on the ground.

Weren't a lit of the house built by local authorities?

ThisRegard · 22-09-2016 02:32PM

mariaalice wrote: »

I am not disagreeing with the statistics but that does not take away from the fact that there was massive house building in the likes of Tallagh and Swords and other suburbs in Dublin in the 1980s my point is who was buying them if unemployment was so high there seems to be a disconnect between the statistics and what was happening on the ground.

Housing was built by the councils and rented out to families, they weren't being purchased. Most are still council owned.

Snakeblood · 22-09-2016 02:43PM

mariaalice wrote: »

Well maybe not exactly the same subset but in general two working adults.

But you were talking about massive unemployment?

jimmy blevins · 22-09-2016 03:15PM

I remember the a-team and bosco from the eighties and not a lot else.

NiallBoo · 22-09-2016 03:43PM

Shocking really.

They were able to buy houses for cheap so they blew the leftovers on Artex.

AllGunsBlazing · 22-09-2016 04:25PM

We were all unemployed, living on council estates, and playing in blue - eyed soul bands. Good times.

22-09-2016 04:30PM

I bet the people who actually were living through the 80s didn't think of it as being that bad at the time. To them, their only reference points were times prior to them, so they would have thought they had things better than people in the 70s, 60s and before, since they had more technology and entertainment than before (universal colour tv, vcrs, walkmans, primitive home computer games). Not sure how "real" incomes in the 80s compared to before then but the amount of disposable income a person has isn't absolutely proportional to how happy they are, in any case.

That said, as someone who was a child in the 90s and teen in the 00s, even during the mid 00s the 80s seemed like a very quaint and distant era to me, somewhat, but not totally, removed from my experience. As a kid I mostly imagined it to be a time when I would have been hungrier if I was growing up ... teachers, parents and adults in general would have been angrier ... the general rule was to be poor rather than for it to be the exception ... everything was "more Irish" than in the late 90s for instance ... men with no sideburns and moustaches who looked like they'd kill you .. the weather being sunnier ... among many other connotations ...

Crea · 22-09-2016 04:42PM

The thing was though everyone seemed to be in the same boat. 1 parent working, mammy at home, 1 car, holiday in a caravan in Ireland, jam sandwiches and sweets on a Sunday.
Government built massive swathes of council houses in the 80's. Tallaght was mainly council houses when it was first built but many were bought out by the Tennant purchase scheme.
There was hidden poverty though, Angelas Ashes type stuff.
At the time I remember thinking that there was a shame in being out of work and those who were unemployed would do anything to get back to work. Now there are some who are unemployed as a life choice.

Badly Drunk Boy · 22-09-2016 05:06PM

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

i was referring specifically to self aid.

Yeah, any of the half-decent Irish bands that were around at the time managed to avoid Self Aid.

5rtytry56 · 22-09-2016 05:12PM

Aer Lingus actually had 3 Jumbo Jet 747s, the biggest planes they will ever operate.

Badly Drunk Boy · 22-09-2016 05:19PM

Crea wrote: »

The thing was though everyone seemed to be in the same boat. 1 parent working, mammy at home, 1 car, holiday in a caravan in Ireland, jam sandwiches and sweets on a Sunday.

We had my father working (in a factory, and never unemployed) and my mother at home, no car, and for holidays we stayed in an aunt's house in Dublin by the coast, when they went on holidays!

Until my younger siblings got older, my older sister and I often got a main Christmas present between us. It was usually a game of some sort that made it easier to share. We never went hungry but I'm sure it must have been fairly tough on the parents at the time. There were no luxuries. We didn't even get a phone until 1990!

I can't remember much about the housing side of things. The house I grew up in (and now own) is a few years older than me, built in 1970.

For Forks Sake · 22-09-2016 06:27PM

Badly Drunk Boy wrote: »

Yeah, any of the half-decent Irish bands that were around at the time managed to avoid Self Aid.

Was it mandatory that Brush f*cking Shiels turn up to every event in the 80's?

sligojoek · 22-09-2016 06:56PM

For Forks Sake wrote: »

Was it mandatory that Brush f*cking Shiels turn up to every event in the 80's?

He was with Joe Duffy's Funny friday on a thursday crew at the ploughing c/ship today.

Winterlong · 22-09-2016 06:57PM

Worst thing about the 80s was not the unemployment. It was Electric Eddie and the 2FM roadcaster.

Ireland the 1980s

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