To absolutely despise Ireland?

[Barbielovesken]

I hate it. I hate absolutely everything about this country. All we do is work and work and for some good measure, work a bit more.

Any benefits to this? Absolutely none. We dont go anywhere or do anything and don't see each-other as when ones off the others working and vice versa. Just to keep our heads above water. To pay more and more and more taxes and take more and more pay cuts that we see absolutely nothing for.

It's relentless.

I am just 26 years of age and swear that the life has been sucked out of me by the hell hole that is this country. I hate it here and we can't leave - we're trapped here.

What about the 'luck of the Irish'

Potato Famine, mass migration, Internal unrest, Daniel O' Donnell and now crippling economic debt.

How much more lucky can one small island nation get?

Daniel O'Donnell???

I read it as Daniel O'Connell at first...

OP, I really feel for you. Keep your chip up, it sounds like you're doing great!

Daniel O' Donnell

Maryz....you have brought a tear to my eye.

Not at all. You should go on "Joe Duffy". You would have the tricolor flying high!!!

You might be surprised MaryZ! We could do with a dose of positivity in our media. I found I had to switch off from Frontline/PrimeTime/Vincent Browne et al (even though we're big fans of Constantin here!) it just got too much banks/troika/cuts/anglo/nama and so on. I know it's hard reality and has to be covered but when it's out of our control it can seem overwhelming and hopeless. I was a news junkie before but found I reached a point where I couldn't listen to wall to wall recession and so I ration my news now. It's the only way I can keep perspective. Or maybe I'm in denial I'm not sure....Anyway why not "talk to Joe!!"

microcosmia, I'm exactly the same as you. My day used to start with Morning Ireland and end with whatever current affairs programme was on tv that night. Since the budget in December - which coincided with the adoption of our dd - I don't listen to any current affairs any more. I found I was worrying too much about things I have no control over so I'm adopting a Scarlett O'Hara approach these days

Maryz, I totally agree with you. In the Celtic tiger years, people lost the run of themselves and this recession will give us all a kick in the arse. I feel sorry for the 20 and 30 somethings who don't remember the 80s recession. I feel we were reared to be poor, IYKWIM, whereas they were reared to expect so much. For me the Celtic tiger never felt real. We have two public service jobs (thank god) so apart from Croke Park agreement increases and dh getting tons of overtime in the good times, we didn't have wildly different lifestyles. The people who had mad high salaries and borrowed on the strength of them to buy vastly overpriced houses and are now stuck in negative equity are the people I feel really sorry for.

The trick has always been to leave if you can.

Also I think Greece is handling its deficit better in some ways than Ireland, its making the lenders take more of the hit.

In the words of Tommy Tiernan, "Money doesn't suit us, but we gave it a good lash".

Yep, we spent in the good times, that's why they were called the good times. If we'd kept all our money and not spent, they wouldn't be the good times, they'd be the 'Getting ready for the bad times times'. (Another Tommyism).

We came back in 1998. I'd left in '87. Dh is a Londoner and was desperate to live in Ireland ever since he first set foot on Irish soil. We are here to stay. We are not in negative equity on paper, we have a decent amount of equity in our house still, but that's on paper, but we are also trapped.

The reality is, we could not sell even if we wanted to. Noone is buying. Certainly not the type of house we have (4 bed, detached on an acre in a rural setting). The market is flooded with houses like ours.

OP we are descended from the survivors of the famine, we are descended from the ones that stayed, that toughed in out and survived. That will stand to us, and that's why we're all still here, making the best of it.

There are so many reasons to stay, it's not all about money anymore. I agree with everything Maryz said, this country is filled to the brim with that which money simply cannot buy.

It's the Irish political class, certainly not the Irish nation or the Irish people, who should be despised. (I'm not saying that ours is necessarily better.)

They committed the blunder of joining the Euro, thus losing any control over exchange rates and interest rates, which were set to suit Germany. This led to the unsustainable boom - and now bust.

They then agreed to underwrite the bailout of failing banks, landing the Irish taxpayer with the bill. They should have done what Iceland did, a much smaller country which is now bouncing back (but they do have their own currency.)

I read that there are now buildings in Dublin which were once Irish government buildings but are now taken over by EU people (who are referred to as "Germans" whether or not they actually are) who enforce EU rules and interests.

I also read recently that 49% of Sinn Fein supporters are now of the opinion that the Republic of Ireland would be better off in the Sterling zone than in the Euro. They are right in this.

Blimey! Sorry you're having a hard time but I suspect things are hard everywhere right now.

They then agreed to underwrite the bailout of failing banks, landing the Irish taxpayer with the bill. They should have done what Iceland did, a much smaller country which is now bouncing back (but they do have their own currency.)

That.

SomeBloke, do you know which government buildings are now "taken over by...the 'Germans'". I'd be very interested to know. I'd also be very quick to point out how small the minority of the population that class themselves as Sinn Féin supporters really is.

Messymammy

I'm afraid I don't know which ones, but this is where I read it:

synonblog.dailymail.co.uk/2012/02/freedom-no-euro-for-an-independent-scotland.html

(The fact that it's a Daily Mail-based blog might lead some to dismiss it out of hand of course ...)

I take your point about Sinn Fein supporters being a very small minority. All the same, this did strike me forcibly since I'd have thought that SF would be at the end of the spectrum against being associated with Sterling.

I wouldn't be at all surprised to hear that there is a team of EU bureaucrats housed in government buildings in Dublin. Ireland's been the poster boy for taking the medicine doled out by the EU - with no thought for the fact that it is likely to kill the patient. At least I suppose the EU hasn't been as blatantly obvious in its operations in Ireland as in Greece or Italy where they have overthrown democratically elected governments and installed puppet regimes that will do what the EC tells them. (But only because Irish politicians have been prepared to do what they are told.)

The Germans don't like Keynes, so they won't do the right thing, because their fear of hyperinflation like the 30s is so ingrained. They moan about 'lazy Southern Europeans' - not taking any note of the fact that the Euro was their project and they were the ones choosing into a single currency with completely different economies working on a completely different cycles. They made a bad decision but are refusing to take the right action to deal with it.

The EEC, EC, EU whatever it chooses to call itself has always been a project of the political elite. The populace have gone along with it because it has maintained peace and brought prosperity to many - especially French farmers and German industry. Will be interesting to see how it works out now millions of people can see it is not in fact either democratic or in their interests. (I don't vote UKIP, btw, am just very cynical about Europe.)

Sorry, just to ask somebloke again, how exactly could Ireland be part of the "sterling zone"? Perhaps we should go back to the Irish punt (or pound), is that what these Sinn Féin supporters meant?

Ireland has never been part of "sterling zone". Not as an independent entity, and I imagine most would rather start eating the flowers out of their gardens before they'd vote for that!

messy - they mean going back to the Pund. In essence acknowledging that Ireland has a closer link to the UK than it does the rest of the Eurozone.

There would be no link to the Pound Sterling other than through trade though.

Most importantly it would mean Ireland would be free to devalue its currency to improve its competitive position.

none of thats going to happen. And its punt btw.

barbielovesken I know how you feel, have had many days like this.

Like yourself we were very good when everyone else was apperantly spending, we put 20% deposit on out house a builders shell in 2006 and put all our savings [80,000] into making it a home, we are also in negitave equitety.

We have had alot of bother with our county council in the last year. They are saying we do not comply with alot of building regs, at the moment our house is worthless. We are taking legal action against our builder and the engineer who signed our house off to say it was complyant. could you not do the same? Even if the have gone bust could you go after their insurance?

Re medical bills, they are killing us too but have found a few ways to save some money. Dc's inhalers which are 12euro are only £4 in the north. they will take an ROI precription, no problam. We were always sitting just under the 120 euro cap. Also our local A&E has closed a few years ago and was replaced with a minor injuries clinic, it's free and if the refare you on to A&E it's free too because you are going with a doctor letter

Re the mortgage, we had to reduece ours by 400 euro a month, we just could not keep our heads above water any more. We are still paying way more then intrest only option but it has helped so much.