The 70's and 80's in Ireland

raven41 · 20-01-2021 11:16am

riclad wrote: »

Look at reeling in the years on rte.ie it was not depressing, people watched rte,itv, bbc ,listened to pirate radio or bbc radio, for pop music,
there was no internet, no one was looking at smartphones or twiiter or getting bullied online.
if you had a job ,you could buy a house, rents were very low compared with now .If you got a job ,it was long term,eg no gig part time jobs working for an app.life was simple .
fashion in the 70s was awful, wide collars.flared jeans .
people smoked anywhere, office ,pubs, shops s .
if a woman in the civil service got married ,she had to retire .
no one worried about global warming .
everyone watched certain program,s ,top of the pop, s ,the late late ,
When mtv started it was a big deal, music video,s on everyday.
any singer that had a good video would have a hit .
people bought cassettes, before cds were invented.
a vcr cost like 200 pounds.
no one went to a pub or a cafe and stared at phones .
there were no trolls or online bullys .
i think it would be great to have an online radio station, pop80,
eg it just replays old pop music radio shows , the top 40 etc

Look at spotify, apple music ,etc theres so much music on release now
its hard to know where to start.
you dont miss what you do not have,
no one was worried cos theres no internet,or i cant play call of duty online
with voice chat.

Think every generation looks back with fondness 30 or 40 years ago. Having said that I know i have more in common with my fathers upbringing been a kid/teenager in the 70/80s than I do with my own childrens.
As a kid I was told I never had it so good, didnt realise it at the time but yeah maybe some truth to that...

Wibbs · 20-01-2021 11:46am

riclad wrote: »

no one worried about global warming

Actually back then global cooling, in particular of Europe was a concern. That's before the still existing fear of nuclear war throughout that peaked and then receded in the mid 80's. Then there was the fear associated with the oil crisis, electricity blackouts(though that was far worse in the UK), and rampant inflation, while wages remained pretty stagnant. By the 80's unemployment was a major problem and the young were looking into the barrel of the dole office or the airport and university places were very constrained. The Troubles were also in full flow.

everyone watched certain program,s ,top of the pop, s ,the late late ,

Because there were no choices. Dublin and some bits of the east could at least get the UK stations so had more choice, but the rest of the country were stuck with RTE.

petrolcan · 22-01-2021 12:41am

Wibbs wrote: »

Dublin and some bits of the east could at least get the UK stations so had more choice, but the rest of the country were stuck with RTE.

Anyone within 20 odd miles of the border could get all the UK channels.

branie2 · 22-01-2021 1:22am

Laserdiscs came out in the 70s

Hotblack Desiato · 26-01-2021 12:14pm

branie2 wrote: »

Laserdiscs came out in the 70s

Nobody in Ireland could afford them. Only ever saw them on Tomorrow's World or in a magazine, never in a shop here.

Hotblack Desiato · 26-01-2021 12:14pm

iamstop wrote: »

I vaguely even remember a coal man doing the rounds during the winter.

Horse drawn of course!

I remember fireworks shows in the Phoenix Park that was somewhat synched up with a 2FM soundtrack.

One New Year's, late 80s, the corporation organised this massive laser show, some went into town specially to see it others went up the mountains.

Of course there was a total power failure and nothing happened

Ah yeah, the radio station wars. You'd love spotting the FM104 or 2FM vehicles buzzing around. Sometimes you'd get the free car window stickers.

The real radio station wars were years before - Radio Dublin, Sunshine, Q102, Kiss FM, Nova. Three of those names are back now but nothing to do with the old pirate stations.

You'd bags the arse of someone's drink and have no worries drinking the 'backwash'.

If you were eating an apple someone would always say "Giz yer butts" :eek:

Riclad in the early 80s a video cost over £500 which is why most people who had one rented it. Gradually got cheaper over time but would have been mid 90s before they hit the £200 or so mark

Instead of online bullies there were people who would beat you up if you went to the wrong school, wore the wrong clothes, or liked the wrong bands. Or just because they could

fryup · 26-01-2021 12:40pm

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

Instead of online bullies there were people who would beat you up if you went to the wrong school, wore the wrong clothes, or liked the wrong bands. Or just because they could

and which is worse i ponder....todays online bullying or the hiding you'd get from yesteryear ??

NewbridgeIR · 26-01-2021 2:56pm

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

Nobody in Ireland could afford them. Only ever saw them on Tomorrow's World or in a magazine, never in a shop here.

Virgin & HMV stocked them in the 80s and 90s

AndrewJRenko · 31-01-2021 11:46am

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

Nobody in Ireland could afford them. Only ever saw them on Tomorrow's World or in a magazine, never in a shop here.

I remember them in Eason's window display, about £100 a pop.

looksee · 31-01-2021 11:52am

All this is terrible in retrospect. You don't miss what you have never had, so if limited tv is what you are used to, then usually its ok. The 70s and 80s were an improvement on the couple of decades before, that's what you notice, not so much what you don't have that hasn't arrived yet.

NewbridgeIR · 31-01-2021 12:10pm

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

I remember them in Eason's window display, about £100 a pop.

Horrendously expensive. The last time I remember seeing them was in Tower Records mid 90s and they were still around £70 or so.

It's amazing how the price of television series & films has come down. I remember when The Sopranos came out on VHS in 2000 and the first season was £50 - boxes of them piled in HMV and they were flying out.
Going back to the 1980s, there was terrible value if you wanted to collect series like The Prisoner or Doctor Who. Three episodes or so on a tape that cost close to £20.

Or when DVDs first appeared in Ireland - 1998 - and things like The Wicker Man and Fight Club were £40 each (2 disc editions).

riclad · 31-01-2021 12:22pm

Many people had aerials on the roof in order to get bbc and itv, also you could
use a satellite dish to watch TV before
Sky TV was available .
Before sky TV people had cable TV.
People had game consoles nes and the super nes
Every house in rural areas had large TV aerials on the roof

gogo · 31-01-2021 12:33pm

I remember we had the only bbc hook up on the road and all the neighbours piling in to watch some Barry McGuigan fight, the house was full, great times.

On this thread on a whole, I’ve a nostalgic memory of the 80s. We never went abroad but seen every artifact, monument and power station ireland had to offer. I live in the country so never really seen the dilapidation that I see now in pictures. We lived outside playing and that whole thing about going home when the street lights came in was certainly true for me.
We were dressed well, extremely well feb, all home cooked meals. We were never rich but I certainly didn’t know it.
Bedrooms were for sleeping and reading, you don’t miss the internet or mobiles when you never had them. Projects were completed by using an encyclopedia... every house had a set and greese proof paper for copying the pictures. Good times!

fryup · 31-01-2021 12:58pm

gogo wrote: »

Bedrooms were for sleeping and reading,

amongst other things

Caquas · 31-01-2021 12:59pm

gogo wrote: »

I remember we had the only bbc hook up on the road and all the neighbours piling in to watch some Barry McGuigan fight, the house was full, great times.

On this thread on a whole, I’ve a nostalgic memory of the 80s. We never went abroad but seen every artifact, monument and power station ireland had to offer. I live in the country so never really seen the dilapidation that I see now in pictures. We lived outside playing and that whole thing about going home when the street lights came in was certainly true for me.
We were dressed well, extremely well feb, all home cooked meals. We were never rich but I certainly didn’t know it.
Bedrooms were for sleeping and reading, you don’t miss the internet or mobiles when you never had them. Projects were completed by using an encyclopedia... every house had a set and greese proof paper for copying the pictures. Good times!

Very true but hard to explain to the younger generation.

The facts are grim: the 80s were an era of political and economic failure in Ireland - record unemployment, mass emigration returned, PAYE workers were robbed, the North was a festering sore, the Pro-Life Amendment was a constitutional car-crash, the Coalition bungled the Divorce referendum. I could go on....

And yet, in many ways the 80's paved the way for the 1990s which, I would argue, were the pivotal decade in Ireland's recent history i.e. it tranformed our society, our politics and economy. And, despite everything, the 80s had youthful energy and a spirit of fun and adventure which made it a playground for youngsters.

David McWilliams made a lot of money peddling "The Pope's Children" - a great title but it gets the demographics totally wrong. The 80s were the decade when Ireland's birth rate began its dramatic fall to barely replacement level. Those who entered their teens in the late 80s were blessed. The Celtic Tiger had arrived with ample opportunities for them as they came out of college in the mid-90s (when, for the first time in our history, a majority of school-leavers went on to higher education). So it is not surprising if that generation look back through rose-tinted glasses at a decade which, objectively, was a disaster for this country.

gogo · 31-01-2021 1:14pm

fryup wrote: »

amongst other things

Facts! I’m one of five ðŸ™‚

Galwayguy35 · 31-01-2021 1:23pm

Was doing a clear out of the home house a few years ago and found and old paper with the TV shedule from 1979, started around 3pm and finished at 11.30.

Combined with the fact that most houses had no oil heating its no wonder most people born in the 70s have quite a few brothers and sisters

fryup · 31-01-2021 1:33pm

sure there was no rubber johnnies back then you had to use cling film or a crisp packet

Galwayguy35 · 31-01-2021 1:36pm

fryup wrote: »

sure there was no rubber johnnies back then you had to use cling film or a crisp packet

Or nothing at all, fella in my class had 14 brothers and sisters.

JeffKenna · 31-01-2021 1:37pm

fryup wrote: »

sure there was no rubber johnnies back then you had to use cling film or a crisp packet

Plastic bags were the job until the levy came in.

fryup · 31-01-2021 1:39pm

fella in my class had 14 brothers and sisters.

same here there was a guy in my school from a family of 14 and the thing is they lived in a tiny cottage, god knows what the sleeping arrangements were like

vriesmays · 31-01-2021 2:17pm

Chart music was out of tune due to analogue instruments used. Now it's all digitised and soulless.

s8n · 31-01-2021 2:35pm

iamstop wrote: »

My main memories of 80s Dublin:

The lights in town at Christmas
Switzers windows at Christmas too
Spending way more time outdoors than kids seem to these days. You'd know pretty much every kid in about a mile radius (grew up in Old Bawn, Tallaght) and you played big group games like Kick The Can, Red Rover, Crocodile Crocodile and Rounders. Those were the mixed games. The usually lads only games were stuff like Heads and Volleys, Lives, 5 A side and other football based games.
Lots of climbing trees. Especially during conker season.
Used to look forward to school trip and sports day. Was also swimming lessons once a week for a while.
The Ice Cream vans
The Milkman delivering bottles and you'd leave the empties for him to take back.
The paper boy coming around for collection. We used to get the Herald delivered.
I vaguely even remember a coal man doing the rounds during the winter.
I remember fireworks shows in the Phoenix Park that was somewhat synched up with a 2FM soundtrack.
Ah yeah, the radio station wars. You'd love spotting the FM104 or 2FM vehicles buzzing around. Sometimes you'd get the free car window stickers.
Beat on the Street, sponsored by 7UP who had Fido the dido.
Zig and Zag, Zuppy, Ted and the rest of the gang.
I remember when the Square was being built. And the Watergate park before it.
Adventure playgrounds.
"Help the Halloween Party" when you were looking for stuff to burn on the bonfire. Would start weeks before looking for rubbish and scraps of wood.
Camping up in Larch Hill and all the stories of the various Banshee's, Mountain Men and Werewolves etc.
Doing bag packing for the scouts to raise money for camping gear or trips etc.
Back sales in school.
I remember it was a big deal when the school announced an official tracksuit.
Yellow reg no passies.
If you burped you'd get Sixer Slugs.
You'd bags the arse of someone's drink and have no worries drinking the 'backwash'.

It was just "Fido Dido"

Ash.J.Williams · 31-01-2021 2:41pm

vriesmays wrote: »

Chart music was out of tune due to analogue instruments used. Now it's all digitised and soulless.

Yeah try playing along with a live AC/DC album from the 70s and you’d struggle, digital tuners are more accurate than the ear

ohnonotgmail · 31-01-2021 4:49pm

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

I remember them in Eason's window display, about £100 a pop.

£100 was probably the best part of a weeks wages back then. They were very rare things.

ohnonotgmail · 31-01-2021 4:50pm

fryup wrote: »

same here there was a guy in my school from a family of 14 and the thing is they lived in a tiny cottage, god knows what the sleeping arrangements were like

There were ten in the bed
And the little one said,
"Roll over! Roll over!"
So they all rolled over and
one fell out

There were nine in the bed
And the little one said,
"Roll over! Roll over!"
So they all rolled over
And one fell out

riclad · 31-01-2021 6:59pm

It was no so easy to get contraception, in the 70,s 80,s the church was very powerful,any new laws passed had to follow the policys of the catholic church
condoms were not sold in every super market.
Familys with 4-5 children were common .
Nowadays couples maybe have 1 or 2 kids .
ireland is now a multicultural country with a diverse population .
there was no social media, no online forums, not many places to discuss
lgbt rights or feminism .
Young people left ireland to get jobs in the uk or america.there were pirate radio stations like radio dublin, very few programs played pop music before 2 fm came along as a response to the pirates .
no one was getting bullied online or trolled in the 80,s .
no there are so many tv channels , online streaming ,netflix,youtube
its like media info overload.
people worried about the cold war, nuclear war.
no one in the 80,s talked about global warming .
now , we have solar power, alternative power sources
we can see the end of driving cars using diesel,or petrol .
if you watch old tv program,s ,you,ll see people smoking everywhere.
pubs, offices, shops .
its a different world .

ohnonotgmail · 31-01-2021 8:10pm

riclad wrote: »

It was no so easy to get contraception, in the 70,s 80,s the church was very powerful,any new laws passed had to follow the policys of the catholic church
condoms were not sold in every super market.
.

you couldn't get condoms at all until 1980. and then only with a doctors prescription. It was 1985 before you could buy them in a chemist without a prescription. it was 1993 before you could buy them outside chemists. Virgin Megastore in Dublin started selling them in 1991 and were taken to court for selling them. I bought my first pack of johnnies there.

31-01-2021 9:23pm

riclad wrote: »

It was no so easy to get contraception, in the 70,s 80,s the church was very powerful,any new laws passed had to follow the policys of the catholic church
condoms were not sold in every super market.
Familys with 4-5 children were common .
Nowadays couples maybe have 1 or 2 kids .
ireland is now a multicultural country with a diverse population .
there was no social media, no online forums, not many places to discuss
lgbt rights or feminism .
Young people left ireland to get jobs in the uk or america.there were pirate radio stations like radio dublin, very few programs played pop music before 2 fm came along as a response to the pirates .
no one was getting bullied online or trolled in the 80,s .
no there are so many tv channels , online streaming ,netflix,youtube
its like media info overload.
people worried about the cold war, nuclear war.
no one in the 80,s talked about global warming .
now , we have solar power, alternative power sources
we can see the end of driving cars using diesel,or petrol .
if you watch old tv program,s ,you,ll see people smoking everywhere.
pubs, offices, shops .
its a different world .

On the point in bold while not strictly global warming we did have the Montreal Protocol signed. While 7 year old me had no idea what that was I was very aware of what CFC's were and the effect they were having on the world. Also around then recycling was starting to be mentioned at school, and by the time I started in secondary school there were separate bins for cans.

Speedsie · 31-01-2021 9:33pm

[Deleted User] wrote: »

On the point in bold while not strictly global warming we did have the Montreal Protocol signed. While 7 year old me had no idea what that was I was very aware of what CFC's were and the effect they were having on the world. Also around then recycling was starting to be mentioned at school, and by the time I started in secondary school there were separate bins for cans.

We were very concerned about CFCs and the hole in the Ozone layer and acid rain in the 80s.

cj maxx · 31-01-2021 9:46pm

Collecting used glass mineral bottles to bring to the shop for the 10p refund.

Humberto Salazar · 31-01-2021 9:53pm

I miss those days. It's not as bad as portrayed. I miss my Spectrum 48k. I miss having just 2 channels. No mobile phones. You could go anywhere without being badgered by messages like 'Wr r u?'. I had no idea what my friends were up to every minute of every day, nor did I care. Today, people get anxiety if a friend doesn't post today's meal on Facebook or wherever. Simpler times, with hindsight.

01-02-2021 11:35pm

Everything today is so instant and disposable in a way, remember going to a shop to buy a tape or cd or getting it from a friend and taping it. Today with streaming if something doesn't grab you in the first 30 seconds you skip it and never hear it again.

Some of my favourite albums are ones that did nothing for me on a first or even second listen. Some might say theres too many options out there now to waste time on something that doesn't grab you first time out and I've read interviews with artistes say that the skip phenomenon has had an effect on how they write.

I also miss the cd inserts with artwork etc. Honestly today with some new stuff I listen to I couldn't tell you what the band looked like or the names of the members.

Another thing was concert tickets going on sale 9am Saturday for most gigs. You'd work out meeting up with your pals at school on Friday to get tickets then head for breakfast.

Hotblack Desiato · 01-02-2021 11:55pm

Bet you don't miss waiting 5 minutes only to get R - Tape Loading Error

NewbridgeIR · 02-02-2021 12:24am

Deleted User wrote: »

I also miss the cd inserts with artwork etc. Honestly today with some new stuff I listen to I couldn't tell you what the band looked like or the names of the members.
.

Still plenty of new albums released on CD and / or LP - no need to miss out on artwork unless you choose to.

02-02-2021 12:25am

Or.....google?

igCorcaigh · 02-02-2021 12:51am

So many things I do not miss. A terrible time in lots of ways. I much prefer now.

Dyr · 02-02-2021 11:15am

Humberto Salazar wrote: »

I miss those days. It's not as bad as portrayed. I miss my Spectrum 48k. I miss having just 2 channels. No mobile phones. You could go anywhere without being badgered by messages like 'Wr r u?'. I had no idea what my friends were up to every minute of every day, nor did I care. Today, people get anxiety if a friend doesn't post today's meal on Facebook or wherever. Simpler times, with hindsight.

If you look at life from around the mid 60s to early 90s, there wasnt that much findamental change, a kid from the sixties would recognise a lot of the stuff that was around in the mid 90s. Compared that to life from the mid 90s to now.

2lazytogetup · 02-02-2021 11:28am

are kids still allowed play football at break time in school. with health and safety and busier schools is there room to play.

i remember playing 45min of football every day in school during break time. i still have the football skills ingrained into me.

maybe thats why there is an obesity problem now compared to the 70s and 80s, all those hours of playing football really added up.

The Wizards Sleeve · 02-02-2021 11:39am

I thought the 80's and 90's were glorious. There's a bit of rose tinted glasses going on I'm sure but I think while there's definitely been great progress and improvements in people's lives in one sense I think society has lost it's way a bit. The internet has changed people a lot and not for the better I would say. It's ramped up division amongst people and meanness I would say too. There's less humility and way more people with a sense of entitlement. Yeah people are more up their own holes and full of sh!t nowadays I would say.

fryup · 02-02-2021 12:25pm

^^^^^^^^^^^

yep, but back then you had the troubles, you had huge unemployment, mass emigration, the RC church had a vice like grip on the country too

so on balance i'd rather live in the ireland of today

riclad · 02-02-2021 1:44pm

If you had a job you were happy,
you met your friends in a pub or a cafe,
No one had 100 so called friends on facebook
It did not require 2 people to buy a house,
House prices were low, rents were low
There's plus and minus,s
Yes the Catholic Church had great power
over how society was run
I think people were more optimistic in general
Now we maybe have 10 years left to tackle
global warming
Many people have low wage gig jobs
It's great to have a smartphone
but social media can be used to spread
hate speech racist content and weird
conspiracy theory's

Hotblack Desiato · 02-02-2021 3:23pm

The Wizards Sleeve wrote: »

It's ramped up division amongst people and meanness I would say too.

Are you kidding - just "up the road" we had shootings and bombings on a near daily basis because of religious/tribal hatred. "Peace walls" constructed to stop kids lobbing bricks and petrol bombs at people's homes. Etc. Can't blame any of that on the internet. It's hatred learned from the cradle.

There's less humility and way more people with a sense of entitlement. Yeah people are more up their own holes and full of sh!t nowadays I would say.

People have been giving out about "young people these days" since time immemorial.

The Wizards Sleeve · 02-02-2021 3:36pm

Hotblack Desiato wrote:

Are you kidding - just "up the road" we had shootings and bombings on a near daily basis because of religious/tribal hatred. "Peace walls" constructed to stop kids lobbing bricks and petrol bombs at people's homes. Etc. Can't blame any of that on the internet. It's hatred learned from the cradle.

Was I brought up in the North? No. Was I talking about northern Ireland? No. So was I blaming northern Ireland's problems on the internet? No. So would you go away with your irrelevant rubbish.

The amount of times you get people quoting you on boards with a completely irrelevant reply to what you actually said.

The Wizards Sleeve · 02-02-2021 3:38pm

Hotblack Desiato wrote:

People have been giving out about "young people these days" since time immemorial.

I didn't say young people. I said people. Again, irrelevant rubbish. Reading what you want to read rather than what was actually said.

Hotblack Desiato · 02-02-2021 4:49pm

The troubles up north were one of the reasons the economy here was so grim in the 70s and 80s, you might think it didn't affect you but it did. It's not a coincidence that tourism and US investment here both took off after the ceasefire

I read "Yeah people" as "Young people" so yeah, you got me there :rolleyes:

But a substantial proportion of people have always been f**king idiots. They just didn't have the means to let everyone know before...

The Wizards Sleeve · 02-02-2021 4:59pm

Hotblack Desiato wrote:

The troubles up north were one of the reasons the economy here was so grim in the 70s and 80s, you might think it didn't affect you but it did. It's not a coincidence that tourism and US investment here both took off after the ceasefire

Do you think my post was inferring there was never division between people pre internet? No I said it ramped up divisiveness between people which I and I'm sure a lot of people believe to be true. Now you're waffling on about economics when we were discussing divisiveness. More irrelevant rubbish yet again.

02-02-2021 5:30pm

fryup wrote: »

^^^^^^^^^^^

yep, but back then you had the troubles, you had huge unemployment, mass emigration, the RC church had a vice like grip on the country too

so on balance i'd rather live in the ireland of today

You now have

huge unemployment
mass emigration - if it's ever allowed again
the medical establishment have a vice like grip on the country with Tony Holohan as the new pope
Can't travel more than 5km
People ratting on each other and shaming each other publically

I think on balance the 70s and 80s were better. You might have been broke but at least you could have some fun.

Hotblack Desiato · 02-02-2021 5:38pm

The Wizards Sleeve wrote: »

Do you think my post was inferring there was never division between people pre internet? No I said it ramped up divisiveness between people which I and I'm sure a lot of people believe to be true. Now you're waffling on about economics when we were discussing divisiveness. More irrelevant rubbish yet again.

LOL the irony at you complaining about divisiveness on the internet, then posting the last few posts of yours... why the aggression?

The Wizards Sleeve · 02-02-2021 5:43pm

Hotblack Desiato wrote:

LOL the irony at you complaining about divisiveness on the internet, then posting the last few posts of yours... why the aggression?

Ah I see. You spout sh!te and when I call you out on it rather than just leaving it or admitting I'm right you come back with more irrelevant sh!te and when I call you out on it again and you've no come back you go down the why the aggression route.

Maybe think before you quote people and waffle irrelevant rubbish next time.

The 70's and 80's in Ireland

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