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Stories from the Celtic Tiger Years Mod Warning in OP PLEASE READ

chops018

Does anyone have any good (or bad) stories from the Celtic Tiger years?

You always hear phrases about how people partied etc., was there just a constant flow of credit available to people and people actually taking the money e.g. was there actually teachers on circa €30k a year buying a house and car and an apartment somewhere.

I was in school and college during these years, graduated into the recession, so I didn't really see what was fully going on at the time bar the fact everyone was working and had money. My dad was working on the buildings on great money and my mam was working away also, we were never stuck really money-wise, also rent seemed to be a lot cheaper back then and fuel and also my college fees were only around €800 a year along with wages being fairly similar to what they are now (from what I can remember anyway, will stand corrected if I am wrong)

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Hector Savage

L1011 wrote: »

I was offered a 100% mortgage on a house in Kilbeggan when I was on 31k. Its affordability was based on assuming I'd rent rooms out to the rent-a-room max amount.

My parents talked me out of it.

I hope you thanked them !!! ... a lot!!!

[Deleted User]

valoren wrote: »

The payouts from the SSIA scheme matured around 2005/2006. It was the second stage of a credit fueled rocket kicking in for many. Equity releases, thousands received from a government top up saving scheme, 100% plus mortgages, loan offers from credit unions, preapproved credit cards, unsecured bank loan offers. All that, no cattle. How did it all go wrong?

I had an SSIA, but other than that no financial institution ever offered me loans or or credit cards that I can remember, so again maybe it was only certain sections of society it was offered too?

Richard Hillman

As said before, there was a lot of going out to pubs and clubs. The Internet wasn't as widely available then so travel wasnt as big a thing with things like Skyscanner etc. Most people would still go to Travel Agents. Online Shopping wasn't as big, so places like Dundrum (which had only been built) and town were Choc a block.

One thing that was very different was the abundance of jobs. There were jobs everywhere. I walked into a tech support job at a large multinational after doing a basic ECDL course. I was nowhere near qualified for the job and didn't last long. I would probably need a degree for the job now a days.

Young lads were being encouraged to leave school and go onto the sites.

Before the Covid Crash we were supposed to be having a boom but it was nowhere near what we had before. It definitely isn't nostalgia. I have been in a dead end job for the last 3 years, despite having a degree that I attained after the financial crash. If it were 2005-2008, I probably could have been naming my price to potential employers.

The Celtic Tiger gets a bad rep but it was a boom that everyone benefited from, as opposed to the non-boom of the last few years. Yes, lots of people lost the run of themselves trying to out do the Jones's via Bank Credit but they were just insecure people that needed to project an image.

dotsman

Sky King wrote: »

So they went to Frankfurt - possibly the most boring city in Europe (after Luxembourg)?

Luxembourg is one of the best cities in Europe for a lad's weekend. Absolutely nothing boring about it.

helimachoptor

Guy i worked with, tried his hand a property developing. Had land with good road frontage in Kilbeggan.
Built 4/5 houses and sold them, so decided to built a big housing estate, but the recession hit and it turned into a ghost estate.
The bank rang him every week chasing money, had a heart attack (lived) but last i heard he was still paying them.

Not like that pamela flood and the restaurant guy who got a handy deal because they got to appear in the papers each week for a few months crying poor.

Myself and wife were going to a wedding, a couple of weeks before hand we got an updated invite to say it was now black tie only and only admittance would be in black tie. And also they didnt want gifts just cash. I cant remember the exact number but there was 200 or so due to go, about 70-80 turned up and most brought presents.
Bride spent most of the day crying

CrankyHaus

Richard Hillman wrote: »

.

Before the Covid Crash we were supposed to be having a boom but it was nowhere near what we had before. It definitely isn't nostalgia. I have been in a dead end job for the last 3 years, despite having a degree that I attained after the financial crash. If it were 2005-2008, I probably could have been naming my price to potential employers.

The Celtic Tiger gets a bad rep but it was a boom that everyone benefited from, as opposed to the non-boom of the last few years. Yes, lots of people lost the run of themselves trying to out do the Jones's via Bank Credit but they were just insecure people that needed to project an image.

For the people running the country this is not a bug, it's a feature.

In certain influential quarters one of the most bemoaned aspects of the Celtic Tiger was how high wages damaged our competitiveness.
Of course this concern didn't extend to high earners in the professions or at executive level, or high rents and other high living costs. But a concern that the drones brought down the whole system by being too greedy was very palpable.
I remember in the early days of the crash Peter Sutherland, famous for his own modest income of course, had a big opinion piece in the Irish Times where he raged against high wages.

[Deleted User]

BrownFinger wrote: »

I used to pay for chicken fillet rolls with fresh 50s and throw the change in the bin on the way out the door.

I always think of the "change in the bin" stories

thecretinhop

Christ where to start

(1) Prop developer land next to us. top notch helicopter. wife used fly twice a week to shopping in dublin. 1000k a pop. all gone namad

(2) galway races utter buffer rednecks paying 500e to get stuck in traffic to drive to galway airport to fly for about 1 minute to arrive in style.

(3) a famous developer a little tired and emotional paid 50k extra for land. bank rang up keep it he says

(4) wifes Bulgarian friend laughing at fat irish rednecks paying 180k for a bargain a relative of hers bought same for 25k.

(5) stag nite in galway lad with his shirt ripped with a lot of 50s saying i cant get married without getting me hole i have 500 lads any joy?

(6) developer/fateen county low level minxeen
he loses it all. last house bank seizes. wet monday morn sheriff's etc to seize it. all arrive a jolly day out for some.
No sign of house. no worries bank guy rings to recheck myst be a mistake. comes back concered deffo right gps.
rings minxeen where is house.
your on top of it i knocked it and buried it at weekend.
hung up.
bank mgr had a double brandy dat night

anyhow loads more will get back

Sky King

dotsman wrote: »

Luxembourg is one of the best cities in Europe for a lad's weekend. Absolutely nothing boring about it.

Yea if you want to spend a weekend experiencing what a Sunday afternoon in the IFSC is like

El_Duderino 09

bluewolf wrote: »

I always think of the "change in the bin" stories

Was it ever true? Sounds a bit like the woman leaving the buggy at the bus stop.

BrianD3

Love the posts about helicopters, a property developer neighbour of mine had one that would regularly takeoff and land in his garden. Not sure if he flew it himself or had a pilot. Anyhow it was "only" a Robinson

Just as with cars, there is a hierarchy.

KoolKluxKlan

Who could forget this guy with his 50 notes
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=00umb7Cdgdk

[Deleted User]

mariaalice wrote: »

n 2007, a property developer booked Girl Aloud for his daughter's 21st. The group were reportedly flown by private jet to Dublin and performed on stage before mingling with guests. According to event planners, the cost of the band alone could have been anything up to €400,000.

Found this online, be hard to top that but I am sure some did.

That's the way it was with developers! Even at the time I found it funny, the insecurity with a lot of the newly successful ones was so bad that they had to outspend the next guy. There's no way his daughter liked a relatively talentless group like that so much that it was worth bringing them over. They'd surely have had as much craic with a good DJ there, but that's not a story you can use in the bar of the golf club when the bragging starts.

El_Duderino 09

KoolKluxKlan wrote: »

Who could forget this guy with his 50 notes
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=00umb7Cdgdk

If I didn't see that I might not have believed it. Some people will never have money, looking at that it's clear some people are destined not to have money for long.

CrankyHaus

Sunny Disposition wrote: »

That's the way it was with developers! Even at the time I found it funny, the insecurity with a lot of the newly successful ones was so bad that they had to outspend the next guy. There's no way his daughter liked a relatively talentless group like that so much that it was worth bringing them over. They'd surely have had as much craic with a good DJ there, but that's not a story you can use in the bar of the golf club when the bragging starts.

There was an Episode of MTV's Super Sweet 16, a celebration of retarded excess like that, set in Ireland during the period.

Most Episodes were in places like Bel-Air or Malibu. This one was in Dundalk :pac:.

I knew a girl who was at it. She said the production company had Myrmidons going around instructing the girls to act like complete airheads on camera, and getting arsey when they said its not the sort of thing they do.

El_Duderino 09

CrankyHaus wrote: »

There was an Episode of MTV's Super Sweet 16, a celebration of retarded excess like that, set in Ireland during the period.

Most Episodes were in places like Bel-Air or Malibu. This one was in Dundalk :pac:.

I knew a girl who was at it. She said the production company had Myrmidons going around instructing the girls to act like complete airheads on camera, and getting arsey when they said its not the sort of thing they do.

Nightmare. How could having a camera crew at your party be fun?

How much will we learn from it is the next question. Will,our generation blow mo ey if we get it again? Will our generation tell the next generation about it and how to avoid it?

Will our generation be like the old folk with cash under the mattress for fear of losing it?

One More Toy

I was in school, the teachers were famous for having new cars every year. My parents bought a second house in the city, still have it and back to the value of the purchase price

I did better post crash, in college 2008, was making a good sum of money in a part time job {nearly full time it took over my studies). For some reason I said to myself I want to invest some money so I did with Zurich into a fund. Made a nice little earner out of it when stock prices were deflated

road_high

helimachoptor wrote: »

Myself and wife were going to a wedding, a couple of weeks before hand we got an updated invite to say it was now black tie only and only admittance would be in black tie. And also they didnt want gifts just cash. I cant remember the exact number but there was 200 or so due to go, about 70-80 turned up and most brought presents.
Bride spent most of the day crying

Don't mean to wish ill on strangers but the stuck up cow deserved it and hopefully some little life lesson was learned that day for the "happy couple".
Nothing worse than up your arse weddings, they'd been making a comeback pre-covid so no harm to see them clipped for a while. Vulgar, narcisstic nonsense

dzsfah2xoynme9

About a week before my 21st I had the bank ring me up asking did I want a loan for my 21st in case I was going away or having a big party. Mad when I think back now..

Hangdogroad

The Sunday Indo hyping z listers like Gavin Lamb Murphy.
The O2 Girls.
Brendan O Connor and his infamous "all the smart ballsy guys are buying property now" column. Great advice Brendan only this was 2007.

Lockheed

I knew a guy on the sites who was on 3k a week at one point. He said he's better off now though because in the day it all went on sniff and drink

[Deleted User]

Munster final day,being like south armagh at height of troubles,with all the helicoptors about

I remember bank writing out to my folks,(who have v.ordinary jobs) wanting to talk to them about buying apartments in local town

My ould lad,who left school at 13,sunk the plan,with best piece of advice i always remember.....if it was such a good deal,the rich would keep it for emsleves and not advertise to us

Mr.Fantastic

I was only a child/teenager during the celtic tiger and just finished ty when the recession hit, my brother who has since passed was in College studying computer science(which I went on to do after in a h.dip)

He was telling me at the time that the course cordinator was telling the lads in the course to go out to the sites aswell, a few of his coursemates also went with their fathers who were in construction and dropped out.

The only mad story I have was a friend of my mums with her bi-monthly shopping trips to NY for gifts and her 750k house with bespoke wooden stairs and the like. Never begrudge anyone but they were a normal enough family with normal enough jobs didn't add up at the time.

bluemachaveli

It was madness, I finished school around 2002. Went straight to working full time in a shop earning not much more than minimum wage and ended up with 2 credit cards (~€6k limit between them), 2 bank loans and a credit union loan. Rotated through cars (boy racer era :rolleyes: ), trips to America (went to NY twice in a year for some reason) and out on the drink 4/5 nights a week.

To top it all off we bought a house in May 2008, literally days before everything started to sink. Luckily it was a reasonable size and not @100%

Paying those loans back was the biggest lesson of my life. It took years of juggling payments etc. When I finally cleared them, I swore I'd never borrow again. Thankfully these days the only loan I have is my mortgage, everything after that is my own

El_Duderino 09

Mr.Fantastic wrote: »

I was only a child/teenager during the celtic tiger and just finished ty when the recession hit, my brother who has since passed was in College studying computer science(which I went on to do after in a h.dip)

He was telling me at the time that the course cordinator was telling the lads in the course to go out to the sites aswell, a few of his coursemates also went with their fathers who were in construction and dropped out.

The only mad story I have was a friend of my mums with her bi-monthly shopping trips to NY for gifts and her 750k house with bespoke wooden stairs and the like. Never begrudge anyone but they were a normal enough family with normal enough jobs didn't add up at the time.

When normal people with normal jobs find themselves with extra money due to a boom, the right thing to do is to continue to live normally and bank the extra cash for a rainy day or early retirement. That's what the Dutch do. But you'll hear no end of stories about how stingy the Dutch are. I've no personal experience of stingy Dutch people do I don't know either way.

I think we might all be wise to this stuff after the fact, but we're way too inclined to call frugality stibgyness when we actually see it in action.

Your Face

I went into the bank to update my debit card and they offered me a mortgage.
When I politely declined she asked me if I'd like any other type of loan.

facehugger99

thecretinhop wrote: »

(5) stag nite in galway lad with his shirt ripped with a lot of 50s saying i cant get married without getting me hole i have 500 lads any joy?

No idea what this means

Mr.Fantastic

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

When normal people with normal jobs find themselves with extra money due to a boom, the right thing to do is to continue to live normally and bank the extra cash for a rainy day or early retirement. That's what the Dutch do. But you'll hear no end of stories about how stingy the Dutch are. I've no personal experience of stingy Dutch people do I don't know either way.

I think we might all be wise to this stuff after the fact, but we're way too inclined to call frugality stibgyness when we actually see it in action.

Yeah this is totally it tbh, My parents at the time were careful enough so we didn't get stung too badly.

But yeah it will be interesting to see the state of affairs post Covid the second half of this year.

2lazytogetup

my mate fitted kitchens during celtic tiger years. said he was up to his neck in work. some woman he knew was pressuring him to put in a new kitchen. He didnt want to be rude and say no. so he quoted her 3 times what it should be to get rid of her. her response "how soon can you start".

i paid 200euro each for rolling stones in slane tickets. I dont even like them that much but everyone was going. Funnily enough that was when the boom ended as the concert was half empty and people were trying to sell on their tickets just before the gig.

Hangdogroad

facehugger99 wrote: »

No idea what this means

OP was at a stag party in Galway where the groom to be was presumably in a state of inebriation as his shirt was ripped. Groom announced that (I think) he wanted to engage the services of a prostitute and wondered what he could get get for 500 Euros.