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Child Item

The 70's and 80's in Ireland

Kermit.de.frog

What was it like in the 1980's in Ireland?

I have seen pictures, video and my god it looked like a depressing place. :eek:

Grey, delapidated, hopeless.

What was it like? How did you get by without internets, wheelie bins, toilets...?

Would you go back if you could??

*Might as well throw in the 70's too for people of that vintage.

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Grandeeod

If you knew a lad whose Dad wasn't on the scene, he was in the "Leb".:D

petrolcan

Anyone mentioned cars being held together with their own rust yet?

jmreire

Electric Sheep wrote: »

The joy of sitting all day in an unheated school in your wet clothes.

Strange result of that. My friend and her brother, used to cycle 8 miles every day to school and 8 miles back home again in the evening, And of course wearing gaberdine overcoats, so while the coats were hanging up in the (unheated) halls, they were sitting all day in a the best, damp clothes. Then when some younger brothers and sisters came along ( large Families were also the thing back then too) The school bus had arrived on the scene, so no more cycling or spending the day in wet / damp clothes. Fast forward to the present time, Now the cyclists have rheumatism and chronic arthritis, but have healthy heart's, while the school bus kids now have no arthritic or bone problems, but all have heart problems....:.

Grayson

JupiterKid wrote: »

Air Wolf - as an 11 year old lad in the 80s I thought this show was the bees’ knees!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8syGlAMTKA

The other hi tech helicopter show.

Doesn't seem so far fetched to think a US police force would have a chopper with a mini gun on it now.

Hotblack Desiato

Dana Carvey was in Blue Thunder? No way!

Grayson

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

Dana Carvey was in Blue Thunder? No way!

I know! I thought the same when I saw the intro there. And Bubba Smith was in it too

I was looking up something for the iodine pill thread and found this. The zig and Zag No. 1

btw, blue thunder was based on a movie of the same name. I think we can all agree they made crap trailers in the 80's

branie2

Zig and Zag's storytime on a Tuesday evening, when Zig read out the story, and Zag acted as a character celled Melissa Mistletoe.

Filmer Paradise

petrolcan wrote: »

Anyone mentioned cars being held together with their own rust yet?

Hard to believe now, but rust was a real problem in older cars.

Recently, I sold my '01 car to trade up a few years.

This car at 17 years old is still going now.

30 years ago cars were sometimes eaten alive with rust before they were 10 years old.

Of course the powers that be want to take out good cars out of that era for 'green' reasons.

Insurance reasons condems perfectly safe driveable cars & the government allowes this to happen.

My government is a disgrace!

Mena Mitty

Filmer Paradise wrote: »

Hard to believe now, but rust was a real problem in older cars.

Recently, I sold my '01 car to trade up a few years.

This car at 17 years old is still going now.

30 years ago cars were sometimes eaten alive with rust before they were 10 years old.

I drove a Datsun 120y for a few years. When I bought it £50 it was fit for the scrapyard. No floor, no heater, no wipers, but it was driveable and a miser on petrol.

[Deleted User]

Filmer Paradise wrote: »

Hard to believe now, but rust was a real problem in older cars.

Recently, I sold my '01 car to trade up a few years.

This car at 17 years old is still going now.

30 years ago cars were sometimes eaten alive with rust before they were 10 years old.

Of course the powers that be want to take out good cars out of that era for 'green' reasons.

Insurance reasons condems perfectly safe driveable cars & the government allowes this to happen.

My government is a disgrace!

I drive a 1999 Corolla (my Dad bought it new). 94,000 miles on the clock. Passes the NCT every year. I do 2,000 per year, no claims, no points etc. Yet, the only insurance I can get is with my existing provider who is increasing it by 10% - 15% each year.

Grandeeod

NewbridgeIR wrote: »

I drive a 1999 Corolla (my Dad bought it new). 94,000 miles on the clock. Passes the NCT every year. I do 2,000 per year, no claims, no points etc. Yet, the only insurance I can get is with my existing provider who is increasing it by 10% - 15% each year.

And it will go for another 200K miles.

[Deleted User]

Grandeeod wrote: »

And it will go for another 200K miles.

At least! I've seen those yokes run without oil, engine gets red hot and seizes up after a while, but another drop of oil and its running well again. They'd go right back to zero.

Grandeeod

Deleted User wrote: »

At least! I've seen those yokes run without oil, engine gets red hot and seizes up after a while, but another drop of oil and its running well again. They'd go right back to zero.

Best Taxi built options for years and years. An overall great car, unlike the new Toyota rubbish. Best built cars in the world meant something until all the latesr crap.:rolleyes:

Wibbs

NewbridgeIR wrote: »

I drive a 1999 Corolla (my Dad bought it new). 94,000 miles on the clock.

Beat you by a year.

98 Honda with 102,000 miles on the clock.

Though to be fair I'm the second owner and only have it twelve odd years. The damn thing is as reliable as granite. Held onto it more by luck than judgement and some life circumstances.

I do 2,000 per year, no claims, no points etc. Yet, the only insurance I can get is with my existing provider who is increasing it by 10% - 15% each year.

Do NOT get me started on that shower of thieving inefficient double talking miscreants. That someone like you is a higher risk with zero points, driving the same car for years, a car that has been in the same family since new? Bollocks.

AllForIt

I lived my teenage years in the 80's. I liked the 80's but the one massive difference between then and now is that the overbearing depressing influence of the Catholic church is all but gone. Not much difference a feeling for eastern Europeans when communism died there. A dark cloud has been lifted. It sends shivers down my spine when I think of all the pious Chatolics I remember from that era. Thankfully they have died off and their nosey intrusive superior attitude with it.

[Deleted User]

Wibbs wrote: »

Beat you by a year. 98 Honda with 102,000 miles on the clock. Though to be fair I'm the second owner and only have it twelve odd years. The damn thing is as reliable as granite. Held onto it more by luck than judgement and some life circumstances. Do NOT get me started on that shower of thieving inefficient double talking miscreants. That someone like you is a higher risk with zero points, driving the same car for years, a car that has been in the same family since new? Bollocks.

I'm attached to the Corolla. I drive it every day - to the train station and back and then around the town at the weekend - shopping or dropping the kids to something. Every 2 months or so, I'll drive it down to Wexford to see my parents. That's the extent of it. Can't fathom why it's considered such a risk. A real "computer says no" stance.

Hotblack Desiato

Filmer Paradise wrote: »

30 years ago cars were sometimes eaten alive with rust before they were 10 years old.

Fiats were often riddled before they were five years old. They did a deal with the Soviet Union in the 70s to get cheap steel.

Galwayguy35

AllForIt wrote: »

I lived my teenage years in the 80's. I liked the 80's but the one massive difference between then and now is that the overbearing depressing influence of the Catholic church is all but gone. Not much difference a feeling for eastern Europeans when communism died there. A dark cloud has been lifted. It sends shivers down my spine when I think of all the pious Chatolics I remember from that era. Thankfully they have died off and their nosey intrusive superior attitude with it.

So you are happy people did nothing wrong other than be religious are dead?

Grandeeod

AllForIt wrote: »

I lived my teenage years in the 80's. I liked the 80's but the one massive difference between then and now is that the overbearing depressing influence of the Catholic church is all but gone. Not much difference a feeling for eastern Europeans when communism died there. A dark cloud has been lifted. It sends shivers down my spine when I think of all the pious Chatolics I remember from that era. Thankfully they have died off and their nosey intrusive superior attitude with it.

Seriously? I grew up in the 70s and 80s and I didn't give a flying fook about religion after my communion in '78. I never felt any dark cloud, only a definitive belief that I could better myself with no religion involved. But that was me. There were loads and loads of my generation that harbored this Catholic guilt thing despite boozing, drugging, riding and generally feeling crap because of the link to their "faith". A lot of my generation and maybe the one before it, still live their lives in a very liberal fashion, with all that fooked up religious guilt lingering inside them. Its a pity.

AllForIt

Grandeeod wrote: »

Seriously? I grew up in the 70s and 80s and I didn't give a flying fook about religion after my communion in '78. I never felt any dark cloud, only a definitive belief that I could better myself with no religion involved. But that was me. There were loads and loads of my generation that harbored this Catholic guilt thing despite boozing, drugging, riding and generally feeling crap because of the link to their "faith". A lot of my generation and maybe the one before it, still live their lives in a very liberal fashion, with all that fooked up religious guilt lingering inside them. Its a pity.

My family had expectations of me to live my life as a catholic. Including wider family. I found it oppressive coming from a hugh typical rural Irish country family background.

They didn't care whether I believed in God but just that I walked and talked like a catholic.

Your experience was obviously not as oppressive as mine but I don't get why you think mine should be the same as yours as if we lived in the exact same social circles.

Good for you with your had no effect on me attitude but that's just your personal experience.

AllForIt

Galwayguy35 wrote: »

So you are happy people did nothing wrong other than be religious are dead?

Well no but it's a good start.

FanadMan

gerrybbadd wrote: »

The 80s, jaysus.

100 penny sweets for £1. Or a fair amount of other stuff - 10 chomps, or Roy of the Rovers bars.

The Wombles

As others have said, we would head off in the morning to play in the fields around our housing estates. We would walk for miles, exploring, picking conkers, robbing apples & Strawberries. Heading into a spare parts yard to play in the cars. Heading into a bus graveyard to play. Playing in a massive abandoned grain silo, with asbestos roof. And in the swamps beside it, collecting frogspawn. The mother had some set of lungs on her, she's stick the head out the back window to call you in for the dinner.

This was my childhood, albeit from a rural coastal area. Play football, go swimming in the sea, search rockpools for crabs and small fish. Pick wild mushrooms. Go fishing on rocks.

Only adult supervision was someones mother shouting that dinner was ready. No fear of abduction or accidents.

branie2

The Famous Five - wherever there's adventure to be found!

mikemac2

Midnight mass was actually at midnight, not this new 7pm lark :pac:

The priest giving advance warning people to leave the kids at home for Saturday night mass at least once a year. What he wanted to discuss I dunno. Adult topics not suitable for young ears I guess. Maybe something shocking like divorce :eek:

11am mass moved to an earlier time as the PP wanted to head off to see Offaly in a big hurling match. I know hard to believe, Offaly were good at hurling! Was the quickest mass you’ll ever attend

The Easter dues envelope. I’ve read on boards that a priest would name and shame the tight feckers in the parish but I never saw this and find it hard to believe

Now and again we had a curate who was shoved around until he got his own parish. Now he’ll get 2-3 instantly!

The novena with Papal flags. Was a big event! Still happens

The Protestant lad left sitting out in the reception area during our religion class

To dig a grave which is damn hard work was done by some local men who were paid with a carvary dinner and a few pints. I believe these days mini diggers are used, well by the council anyway

Floppybits

Grayson wrote: »

The other hi tech helicopter show.

Doesn't seem so far fetched to think a US police force would have a chopper with a mini gun on it now.

The 80's/90's was all the rage for these types of programmes. I remember

Airwolf
Blue thunder
Knight Rider
Street Hawk. (basically knight rider but on a motor bike)
The Beast (spin off of knight rider)

PGE1970

It was not uncommon in the 1970s to be given, wait for it, sugar sandwiches for your school lunch.

I had many a sugar sandwich in primary school.

ohnonotgmail

PGE1970 wrote: »

It was not uncommon in the 1970s to be given, wait for it, sugar sandwiches for your school lunch.

I had many a sugar sandwich in primary school.

toasted sugar sandwiches were even better.

iamwhoiam

PGE1970 wrote: »

It was not uncommon in the 1970s to be given, wait for it, sugar sandwiches for your school lunch.

I had many a sugar sandwich in primary school.

Or brown sauce sandwiches ! Very delicious!

fryup

PGE1970 wrote: »

It was not uncommon in the 1970s to be given, wait for it, sugar sandwiches for your school lunch.

I had many a sugar sandwich in primary school.

i got a sugar addiction from them....ended going to rebab

Wibbs

AllForIt wrote: »

My family had expectations of me to live my life as a catholic. Including wider family. I found it oppressive coming from a hugh typical rural Irish country family background.

I was about to call shenanigans on your post about the church in the 80's, but then remembered there was quite the large gulf between rural and urban in this. Some parishes were run by the priests and the nuns and any dissension was treated as a major social no no. I heard of people, even families moving away because of the social pressures. In the cities it was significantly less of an issue, certainly by the 80's. The clergy couldn't control things nearly so much. Even if you were religious one priest pisses you off and you piss him off? Big deal, go to another church a couple of hundred yards away. Or don't go at all, beyond oulwans behind twitching curtains nobody would care.