The 70's and 80's in Ireland

bullpost · 31-05-2019 03:51PM

cgcsb wrote: »

All the things you have mentioned also existed then in just as large/larger proportions but it wasn't spoken of. IF someone killed themselves back then, quite common, it was recorded as 'an accident' and not spoken of again. Alcoholism was more common and extreme then than now.

where are you getting your statistics from?

From Alcohol Ireland website :
"Alcohol consumption in Ireland almost trebled over four decades between 1960 (4.9 litres) and 2001 (14.3 litres)."

Widdershins · 31-05-2019 04:16PM

90s childhood bred resourcefulness, imagination , etc but I like the accessibility and choices the internet offers. It's of massive importance for my interests and work. In the 90s I always had this feeling that something like it was coming although of course I couldn't envisage what the internet would be like .

cgcsb · 31-05-2019 04:20PM

bullpost wrote: »

where are you getting your statistics from?

From Alcohol Ireland website :
"Alcohol consumption in Ireland almost trebled over four decades between 1960 (4.9 litres) and 2001 (14.3 litres)."

https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/5263/1/1255-1014_National_Alcohol_Policy.pdf

When you pick out two extreme data points yeah, conversely you could say it hasn't really changed that much. in 1978 it was about 10L per person and in 2017 it was 10.6L per person

Graph is on page 14.

I'd say, although avg consumption has remained the same, the number of out and out alcos is smaller. Less people drinking more etc. There weren't any tee totalers in 1978.

farmchoice · 31-05-2019 04:44PM

cgcsb wrote: »

https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/5263/1/1255-1014_National_Alcohol_Policy.pdf

When you pick out two extreme data points yeah, conversely you could say it hasn't really changed that much. in 1978 it was about 10L per person and in 2017 it was 10.6L per person

Graph is on page 14.

I'd say, although avg consumption has remained the same, the number of out and out alcos is smaller. Less people drinking more etc. There weren't any tee totalers in 1978.

small point but there were a huge number of teetotalers in 1978 as the pioneer organization was huge. Ireland always had one of the highest number of teetotalers of any country in Europe.
so much so it meant that the ave amount consumed quite dramatically under estimated the amount that drinkers were drinking.

in the 50's as many as 1 in 3 Irish people were pioneers.

Mena Mitty · 31-05-2019 04:51PM

Ash.J.Williams wrote: »

Don't get your wranglers in a twist

Back in the day we stepped out in nothing less than a pair of 'Dingo' jeans...they were the job, but you hoped it wouldn't rain ' cause you'd have blue legs, underwear and other 'bits' of you, from the dye.

Mam of 4 · 31-05-2019 04:54PM

Mena Mitty wrote: »

Back in the day we stepped out in nothing less than a pair of 'Dingo' jeans...they were the job, but you hoped it wouldn't rain ' cause you'd have blue legs, underwear and other 'bits' of you, from the dye.

That reminds me of dyeing clothes too !
And bleaching the jeans , geez we were ahead of the trends really

bullpost · 31-05-2019 04:55PM

cgcsb wrote: »

https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/5263/1/1255-1014_National_Alcohol_Policy.pdf

When you pick out two extreme data points yeah, conversely you could say it hasn't really changed that much. in 1978 it was about 10L per person and in 2017 it was 10.6L per person

Graph is on page 14.

I'd say, although avg consumption has remained the same, the number of out and out alcos is smaller. Less people drinking more etc. There weren't any tee totalers in 1978.

And of course alcohol being supplemented by other drugs to a much greater degree these days.

James Brown · 31-05-2019 04:56PM

Marble wash. Never liked it, never got it.

Great to look back with rose tinted glasses but it was nightmare times for a lot of people with the government turning a blind eye to a lot of things.

JupiterKid · 31-05-2019 05:07PM

freshpopcorn wrote: »

JupiterKid wrote: »

It was only about 1991 or 1992 when johnnies could be sold in pub toilet vending machines. Virgin Megastore in Dublin got into trouble for selling them around 1989 or so.

This country really was unbelievably backwards just a generation ago. We have since come a long, long way...

Sorry for asking you this JuipterKid but I thought you might know/remember.
What was it like just before they decriminlised homosexuality?
What were the debates like? Was it supported?
Don't answer if you don't want to.

The gay scene was tiny and semi-underground prior to the late 80s. But as I was only in my early teens in the late 80s I don't remember what it was like to be an Irish gay man back then. Dublin had 4 gay saunas in 1992 but only one bar: The George. Most gay guys and gals were firmly in the closet and many gay men in particular were trapped in loveless and sexless marriages.

Don’t really remember the debate just prior to decriminalisation in June 1993 by then Minister Maire Geoghegan-Quinn but I do know many senior politicians in both FF and FG were staunchly opposed to it - Dermot Ahern comes to mind - and of course the church were very against decriminalistion and also divorce, contraception, women’s rights, children’s rights etc. Labour since the 1970s were in support of social change and to this day many older LGBT voters are staunch Labour supporters.

The 1990s saw huge changes in attitues, especially after decriminalization in 1993. I came out in my final year of university - 1996/97. The more tolerant environment gave me the self-confidence to make the leap.

Things in every sense were on the up. The scene was still small but growing and the Pride marches got bigger and more colourful as the 90s progressed. A lot of people came out in the 1990s and 2000s.

Ireland was growing up and becoming much more tolerant. We had a LOT of catching up to do with the rest of the West.

JupiterKid · 31-05-2019 05:46PM

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

There you have it, both your parents had pretty secure jobs, whatever about being well-paid there was always a steady income coming into the house

For a lot of people it wasn't like that, at all.

Your earlier statement "I firmly believe that most people from Dublin have better memories" is true for some, definitely wrong for many, true for most? very debatable.

Dublin in the 70s/80s had some of the worst deprivation in Western Europe. Other parts of Dublin were quite well off, of course.

Agreed. As recently as 1986 it was estimated that nearly half of all children in Ireland (according to the OECD and ESRI) lived in consistent poverty. Poverty was widespread.

So was alcoholism. Many families had to endure the misery of an alcoholic head of household with the attendant violence, dysfunctional environment, unstable employment and thus money situation and necessities like food on the table or a second pair of shoes.

There was plenty of wealth in the country in the 1980s but a lot of the well to do moved in the same circles and it was very much who you knew over what you knew. Connections and networking and old boys’ clubs prevailed and it was very difficult to break into this golden circle if you were an outsider.

Corruption was widespread. The middle class was much smaller and more insular and the culture of achieving success based on merit was only starting to emerge.

31-05-2019 07:39PM

cgcsb wrote: »

All the things you have mentioned also existed then in just as large/larger proportions but it wasn't spoken of. IF someone killed themselves back then, quite common, it was recorded as 'an accident' and not spoken of again

Not much changed then.
Every suicide on Irish Rail's lines is disgracefully described as a "personal tragedy" or "incident".

yesto24 · 31-05-2019 08:17PM

NewbridgeIR wrote: »

Not much changed then.
Every suicide on Irish Rail's lines is disgracefully described as a "personal tragedy" or "incident".

I could be wrong, but wasn't there something about not reporting suicides as it was found that reporting them as suicides led to an increase in suicides.
Pretty sure personal tragedy doesn't go on the death certificate.

Grandeeod · 31-05-2019 08:32PM

Us 70s/80s kids/teens have a much varied view of the time and that's okay. Some had a **** time and some had a nice enough time. So it wasn't all doom and gloom everywhere. Now I'm not trying to be some peace broker by any means, because you can never really solve the issues between rural Ireland, Dublin and places like Galway, Limerick, Cork and Waterford in relation to the time period.

Where Ireland really fell behind in a somewhat fooked up manner was infrastructure. We had a landline in a Dublin council estate in the early 80s and you had to ring the operator to connect to England. Digital exchanges were only being introduced. Took a few years to get it all going. Our road network was well below par, but little projects like the Naas bypass motorway, were big news for us. The 80s also delivered the initial DART service. Where the fook would we be today without it.

As for sport, the 80s really delivered the worst of times for Ireland. Whatever about Croke Park etc. the international sports of rugby and soccer highlighted our inabilities. While Landsdowne road built a new East stand and nearly kept up with our neighbours, some of our soccer internationals were held in diabolical conditions. In early '85 we brought Italy to Dalymount Park and it was disgraceful stuff. The pitch was worse than my back garden. The overcrowding and organisation was pure bad. An absolute clusterfook.

But all that said we managed to hold groundbreaking Eurovision Song Contests in 1982 and 1988. The Simmonscourt in the RDS gave us that and many many live concerts from major international acts. I often talk to my friends from Eastern Europe like Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia and compare the 80's there to the 80's in Ireland. Ireland was way ahead despite our doom and gloom perception and their soviet union restrictions. I guess the Irish adore self loathing and want to look at the recent past as being the start of any kind of past.

L1011 · 31-05-2019 08:48PM

bullpost wrote: »

where are you getting your statistics from?

From Alcohol Ireland website :
"Alcohol consumption in Ireland almost trebled over four decades between 1960 (4.9 litres) and 2001 (14.3 litres)."

They still use 2001 figures when far newer ones exist because the consumption has fallen. When you take in to account Pioneers and women generally drinking far less to nil back in the 60s the figures are not rosy

AndrewJRenko · 31-05-2019 09:01PM

NewbridgeIR wrote: »

Not much changed then.
Every suicide on Irish Rail's lines is disgracefully described as a "personal tragedy" or "incident".

Would you expect the local station master to make a judgement on the spot as to the cause of a particular death?

31-05-2019 10:43PM

yesto24 wrote: »

I could be wrong, but wasn't there something about not reporting suicides as it was found that reporting them as suicides led to an increase in suicides.
Pretty sure personal tragedy doesn't go on the death certificate.

So on the one hand you have Darkness Into Light which has the aim of "raising awareness" and on the other, people who want to cover up suicide and sweep it under the carpet. A bit of a contradiction, no?

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

Would you expect the local station master to make a judgement on the spot as to the cause of a particular death?

Not necessarily - however it would be nice if the facts could be reported not some bullsh*t euphemisms.

ToddyDoody · 31-05-2019 10:45PM

When did sex become mainstream?

4ensic15 · 31-05-2019 11:13PM

JupiterKid wrote: »

necessities like food on the table or a second pair of shoes.

.

A second pair of shoes? People were lucky to have shoes at all.

freshpopcorn · 31-05-2019 11:14PM

ToddyDoody wrote: »

When did sex become mainstream?

When Charlie Haughey met Terry Keane!

ToddyDoody · 31-05-2019 11:16PM

freshpopcorn wrote: »

When Charlie Haughey met Terry Keane!

And that was a saucy affair.

Was that before or after Ben Dunne got caught coked up with the hooker?

Filmer Paradise · 31-05-2019 11:23PM

ToddyDoody wrote: »

When did sex become mainstream?

Been around forever Buddy. That's why there's Billions of us around.

I was born at the end of the '60s. Sex in Ireland was alive & well back then. Families of 10 plus were common enough at the time.

Anyway, one thing I remember from the '70s/'80s was the way our Dads wore suits to any occasion.

Most Dads back then weren't desk monkeys. They worked in 'real man jobs' that involved manual work.

Nonetheless, they wore suits a lot. Mass every Sunday, family visits, field days, all funerals, anything where there wasn't a danger of getting dirty.

I hardly ever wear one, maybe half a dozen times a year.

Clothes are cheaper now I suppose & there's an awful lot of smart/casual gear on offer now that our Dads just couldn't afford or know about back then.

50 years ago it was either old worn out working clothes or a suit.

ToddyDoody · 31-05-2019 11:25PM

Filmer Paradise wrote: »

Been around forever Buddy. That's why there's Billions of us around.

I was born at the end of the '60s. Sex in Ireland was alive & well back then. Families of 10 plus were common enough at the time.

Anyway, one thing I remember from the '70s/'80s was the way our Dads wore suits to any occasion.

Most Dads back then weren't desk monkeys. They worked in 'real man jobs' that involved manual work.

Nonetheless, they wore suits a lot. Mass every Sunday, family visits, all funerals, anything where there wasn't a danger of getting dirty.

I hardly ever wear one, maybe half a dozen times a year.

Clothes are cheaper now I suppose & there's an awful lot of smart/casual gear on offer now that our Dads just couldn't afford or know about back then.

50 years ago it was either old worn out working clothes or a suit.

I guess I meant when was sex socially acceptable to be overtly visible in Catholic Ireland.

4ensic15 · 31-05-2019 11:27PM

Sex in ireland began in 1962, the year the Late late show started.

Filmer Paradise · 31-05-2019 11:33PM

ToddyDoody wrote: »

I guess I meant when was sex socially acceptable to be overtly visible in Catholic Ireland.

Up to the '70s when a couple got married they were usually in their early '20s.

If they were married more than a year or two without having kids, the Parish Priest might be calling to the door wondering why they weren't doing 'Gods work'.

Imagine that happening now.:eek:

L1011 · 31-05-2019 11:55PM

Filmer Paradise wrote: »

Up to the '70s when a couple got married they were usually in their early '20s.

If they were married more than a year or two without having kids, the Parish Priest might be calling to the door wondering why they weren't doing 'Gods work'.

Imagine that happening now.:eek:

Prior to the 1950s they were often in their mid 30s; or at least the man was.

The era of teenage/early 20s marriages was very short; and ended when you could get away with being together without being married

cj maxx · 01-06-2019 12:03AM

Going to the bog , fcuking loved it . Gathering spuds , going to mass , confirmation and finally getting the ride. Also school and listening the a crackly radio for good music sums up the 80’s for me

mrsdewinter · 01-06-2019 12:16AM

NewbridgeIR wrote: »

So on the one hand you have Darkness Into Light which has the aim of "raising awareness" and on the other, people who want to cover up suicide and sweep it under the carpet. A bit of a contradiction, no?

Not necessarily - however it would be nice if the facts could be reported not some bullsh*t euphemisms.

No, the emphasis nowadays is on reporting suicide responsibly and providing a fuller picture - eg, including a helpline number.

Suicide isn't the only realm where the brutal reality of what's happened are skirted over. Ask any court reporter. They have to listen to reams of disgusting details and all that will appear in the paper is 'a sexual assault occurred'. Overall, I think it's a good approach.

freshpopcorn · 01-06-2019 12:51AM

JupiterKid wrote: »

The gay scene was tiny and semi-underground prior to the late 80s. But as I was only in my early teens in the late 80s I don't remember what it was like to be an Irish gay man back then. Dublin had 4 gay saunas in 1992 but only one bar: The George. Most gay guys and gals were firmly in the closet and many gay men in particular were trapped in loveless and sexless marriages.

Don’t really remember the debate just prior to decriminalisation in June 1993 by then Minister Maire Geoghegan-Quinn but I do know many senior politicians in both FF and FG were staunchly opposed to it - Dermot Ahern comes to mind - and of course the church were very against decriminalistion and also divorce, contraception, women’s rights, children’s rights etc. Labour since the 1970s were in support of social change and to this day many older LGBT voters are staunch Labour supporters.

The 1990s saw huge changes in attitues, especially after decriminalization in 1993. I came out in my final year of university - 1996/97. The more tolerant environment gave me the self-confidence to make the leap.

Things in every sense were on the up. The scene was still small but growing and the Pride marches got bigger and more colourful as the 90s progressed. A lot of people came out in the 1990s and 2000s.

Ireland was growing up and becoming much more tolerant. We had a LOT of catching up to do with the rest of the West.

Thanks, I google Ahern!
I say Breda O'Brien/etc would have being crazy then!

During the debate on decriminalisation of Homosexuality in the Dáil in 1993, he agreed with a statement by Brendan McGahon which reads: "Homosexuality is a departure from normality and while homosexuals deserve our compassion they do not deserve our tolerance" and who described homosexuals as being "like lefthand drivers driving on the right-hand side of the road."

Ahern himself added: "Will we eventually see the day in this country when, as has happened in the USA, homosexuals will seek the right to adopt children? We should think seriously about this possibility". Following his appointment as Minister responsible for equality, Ahern refused to be drawn on the matter and did not give an answer as to whether he still held these opinions

Ahern was responsible for introducing legislation recognising civil partnerships for same-sex couples. He declared the legislation (Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010), which passed into law in July 2010, as "one of the most important pieces of civil rights legislation to be enacted since independence."[24]

SharpshooterTom · 01-06-2019 12:53AM

Was the late 80s in Ireland generally better than the early 80s?

Sardonicat · 01-06-2019 01:05AM

ThomasFlynn wrote: »

Was the late 80s in Ireland generally better than the early 80s?

Change was definitely in the air. It depends what you mean by better. There was a thriving Irish music scene, for example. But it was still poor. Emigration was still high. Still quite repressed socially but more pressure was being exerted from below. I think there was a general sense that things were in the process of changing but to give you some context: A friend of mine lived with her mother and mother's longterm partner in a rented flat. When the landlord twigged that they weren't married and my friend 's mom was seperated from her Dad the landlord evicted them as she didn't want 'adulterers' living in her property. This was in 88!

The 70's and 80's in Ireland

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