Ireland a wealthy country

03-02-2015 11:03AM #1

Its only a small thing but one of the things I have noticed is that you not longer see cheap cuts of meat in the butchers, for example neck of lamb, Lap beef, lambs hearts, brisket corned beef, knuckle of bacon ect. That was the majority of our diet when we were young and we were by no means badly off.

My local butcher and the butcher counter in the supermarket is full of rib roast beef, steaks and other top end cuts of meat which is what people are eating and expecting to eat now.

I think we have become a wealthy country with out even noticing it.

The Backwards Man · 03-02-2015 11:06AM

Yeah! I haven't had any tongue in ages.

floggg · 03-02-2015 11:09AM

Of course we are a wealthy country. Anybody who disputes that is an idiot.

Sure, there are wealthier, but there always we be (unless you are Carlos Slim), bur doesn't mean we don't have it friggin' amazing here compared to how things are for the vast majority of the world..

5starpool · 03-02-2015 11:10AM

mariaalice wrote: »

Its only a small thing but one of the things I have noticed is that you not longer see cheap cuts of meat in the butchers, for example neck of lamb, Lap beef, lambs hearts, brisket corn beef, knuckle of bacon ect. That was the majority of our diet when we were young and we were by no means badly off.

My local butcher and the butcher counter in the supermarket is full of rib roast beef, steaks and other top end cuts of meat which is what people are eating and expecting to eat now.

I think we have become a wealthy country with out even noticing it.

I think most people have noticed. If you are old enough to remember those cuts of beef being commonly used (I can't and I'm not far off 40) then you will very well know the contrast between the country now and before the 90's. Even 30 years ago we were far behind the majority of western Europe in living standards generally, whereas now we average above a lot of them.

It hasn't been a secret, stealthy process. Yes there are still people living in poverty (perhaps more in relative terms to the rest) but overall most boats have risen on the tide, even a lot of those complaining most about austerity.

whiskeyman · 03-02-2015 11:17AM

“They can't seriously expect us to swallow this tripe! ...

“Now, as a special treat courtesy of our friends at the Meat Council, please help yourself to this tripe,”

lazeedaisy · 03-02-2015 11:23AM

mariaalice wrote: »

Its only a small thing but one of the things I have noticed is that you not longer see cheap cuts of meat in the butchers, for example neck of lamb, Lap beef, lambs hearts, brisket corn beef, knuckle of bacon ect. That was the majority of our diet when we were young and we were by no means badly off.

My local butcher and the butcher counter in the supermarket is full of rib roast beef, steaks and other top end cuts of meat which is what people are eating and expecting to eat now.

I think we have become a wealthy country with out even noticing it.

My butcher still sells them, as for supermarket butcher counters, they only sell what's popular, you need to go to a local butchers where they actually still bone the meat. Most places now are pre pack.

Have you asked your local butcher as most will have this stuff in the fridge. My dogs love lambs hearts, is a special treat for them, when we were kids we lived off ox tails and beef hearts.

There are a lot of people still struggling to survive, and the slow cooker is great for cheap cuts of meat.

beardybrewer · 03-02-2015 11:26AM

I would expect a good butchers to be able to get anything, on request. Just be careful, a lot of foods which were cheap and common when a country were poor become expensive delicacies once the country is rich.

Baggy Trousers · 03-02-2015 11:30AM

Jeezus I hated liver!!!

I do remember a lot of mutton. I liked that.

03-02-2015 11:34AM

I think its almost unnoticed how it has happened, and then suddenly you see something that make you realise what a wealthy country we are.

imitation · 03-02-2015 11:36AM

Its not hard to see really, new cars and beemers are common enough. Even in europe you would see such a high percentage as new cars. While i dont dispute plenty have it tough, it seems a big thing ireland to make out you dont make much and that the whole country is in some post apocolyptic recession.

lazza14 · 03-02-2015 11:38AM

Ireland is rolling in it ... the recession was a big lie ... sure everyone was out throwing money about ..

Even "poor" people go out in Dublin on a saturday night and spend €100 minimum - and sure it's nothing lioke ..

gandalf · 03-02-2015 11:49AM

Baggy Trousers wrote: »

Jeezus I hated liver!!!

I do remember a lot of mutton. I liked that.

I hated liver until I realised that the way my mother cooked it in the 70's and 80's was destroying it's taste and texture.

Cooked properly it is a lovely piece of meat.

Permabear · 03-02-2015 12:41PM

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BoJack Horseman · 03-02-2015 12:45PM

If your on the average wage here, your one of the top 2% earners on the planet.

Ireland is & has been for a while one of the top 20 wealthiest nations on earth.

StewartGriffin · 03-02-2015 12:47PM

How DARE you say this is a wealthy country!!

I earn 92,000 yr, (I'm a teacher AND a Garda), my kids ate a cardboard cornflakes box for breakfast this morning, (Lidl cardboard, of course,) and we might not be able to change the car this year.

We're on our knees!!

SEPT 23 1989 · 03-02-2015 12:54PM

I know i am not poor because i own two pairs of strong shoes and a warm waterproof overcoat

ElvisChrist6 · 03-02-2015 12:58PM

lazza14 wrote: »

Ireland is rolling in it ... the recession was a big lie ... sure everyone was out throwing money about ..

Even "poor" people go out in Dublin on a saturday night and spend €100 minimum - and sure it's nothing lioke ..

Jesus Christ... now I know why Boards people think the poor are scabbing bastards; they think everyone is doing this. Are you joking? Maybe you are, because it just seems too much. A country can be wealthy when the people aren't. There's a big gap between the upper and working classes and just because there are the wealthy, I honestly don't see how you can deny that there are people scraping by. Astounding.

Agricola · 03-02-2015 12:59PM

StewartGriffin wrote: »

How DARE you say this is a wealthy country!!

I earn 92,000 yr, (I'm a teacher AND a Garda), my kids ate a cardboard cornflakes box for breakfast this morning, (Lidl cardboard, of course,) and we might not be able to change the car this year.

We're on our knees!!

Yeah, to be serious for a second, theres truth in that. Aside from emigration maybe, (which is itself a far less harrowing and permanent experience than it was 30/40 years ago) the effects of this recession on most people would seem like a walk in the park to our grandparent's generation. They would have dreamed of a country where you could walk into huge supermarket and get a truckload of food for relatively small money, where most people had reliable cars to get them around and where you could sit at home watching 200 channels or talking to friends on the other side of the world in real time in a comfortable centrally heated house.

Permabear · 03-02-2015 01:36PM

This post has been deleted.

Mesrine65 · 03-02-2015 02:03PM

Baggy Trousers wrote: »

Jeezus I hated liver!!!

gandalf wrote: »

I hated liver until I realised that the way my mother cooked it in the 70's and 80's was destroying it's taste and texture.

Cooked properly it is a lovely piece of meat.

Liver & fried onoins in gravy...nom nom

Grayson · 03-02-2015 02:31PM

Agricola wrote: »

Yeah, to be serious for a second, theres truth in that. Aside from emigration maybe, (which is itself a far less harrowing and permanent experience than it was 30/40 years ago) the effects of this recession on most people would seem like a walk in the park to our grandparent's generation. They would have dreamed of a country where you could walk into huge supermarket and get a truckload of food for relatively small money, where most people had reliable cars to get them around and where you could sit at home watching 200 channels or talking to friends on the other side of the world in real time in a comfortable centrally heated house.

Not to mention all the other comforts. Play stations, take aways etc...

Yes, there are people who are poor, but an average working class family has it far better than they did 20 years ago.

We'd have liver or heart at least once a week. We had spam a few times. There are far, far fewer households still eating like that. the lives we have are far better than our parents and this recession, as bad as it is, isn't hurting people as much as the one in the 80's.

Pinch Flat · 03-02-2015 02:57PM

My maM used to make skirt and kidney stew for us. I googled what the skirt part was recently - wish I didn't know now

Also chuck stew popular where I lived as well as pigs feet, tripe and dricheen

the groutch · 03-02-2015 03:20PM

Mesrine65 wrote: »

Liver & fried onoins in gravy...nom nom

I prefer mine with some fava beans and a nice chianti

03-02-2015 03:23PM

Don't think I've ever eaten any of the cuts of meat on that list growing up, we always ate good quality meat.

Philo Beddoe · 03-02-2015 03:30PM

Of course we're a wealthy country, how on Earth would we be paying billions of Euros a year in interest payments on our debts if we weren't!

03-02-2015 03:33PM

Lewis Fat Graphology wrote: »

Don't think I've ever eaten any of the cuts of meat on that list growing up, we always ate good quality meat.

How old are you?

Just because a cut of meat is cheaper does not make it is of less quality.

MRnotlob606 · 03-02-2015 03:34PM

Can't even go on three holidays anymore

Dog of Tears · 03-02-2015 03:35PM

Ireland in an incredibly wealthy country with a very high standard of living for the vast majority of its citizens.

Not only that, but it's getting wealthier.
Crime rates are going down and have been for some time.
Life expectancy is increasing.
People have more leisure time and more disposable income than people from even a couple of generations ago could conceive.

We've temperate weather with no major extremes in heat or cold, no earthquakes or tsunamis, no dangerous creatures roam our land.

Not that you'd no any of this if you switched on the news, which is wall-to-wall negativity as the media gleefully revel in every unsavoury incident and an array of loony-left politicians queue up to tell you how **** your life is (if only you'd vote for them instead :rolleyes:).

If you want to see how good we have things in Ireland - travel.

03-02-2015 03:38PM

mariaalice wrote: »

How old are you?

Just because a cut of meat is cheaper does not make it is of less quality.

30.

I'm not against cheap cuts and if I ever get a slow cooker then I will try them. But they are cheaper for a reason as they take much more time to prepare etc and before slow cookers would be difficult to not end up eating shoe leather.

donegaLroad · 03-02-2015 03:39PM

mariaalice wrote: »

Its only a small thing but one of the things I have noticed is that you not longer see cheap cuts of meat in the butchers, for example neck of lamb, Lap beef, lambs hearts, brisket corned beef, knuckle of bacon ect. That was the majority of our diet when we were young and we were by no means badly off.

My local butcher and the butcher counter in the supermarket is full of rib roast beef, steaks and other top end cuts of meat which is what people are eating and expecting to eat now.

I think we have become a wealthy country with out even noticing it.

Which part of the country do you live in?

jimbly · 03-02-2015 03:49PM

I sympathyse with the peole who are struggling.
Ireland has the same population as a large English city e.g. Birmingham.
How many private hopsitals are in Birmingham?
How many are in Ireland? Someone can afford it all.

Ireland a wealthy country

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