# The eighties were better ?



## mtk (17 Jan 2018)

1 No property tax
2 No means testing of dependent spouse for old age contributory pension
3 Jobs were for "life "
4 Defined benefit pension schemes were the norm
5 You could buy a house in Dublin on an average Salary
6 Unemployment benefit had a pay related benefit.
7 no need to do degree to have a chance of a decent job in say one of the banks


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## Firefly (17 Jan 2018)

The wife was at home so all the cooking, cleaning, lunches, uniforms were done
The dinner was on the table at 6 o'clock
Men went to the pub
Men could play golf every Sunday

Feckers had it soo good!


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## Ceist Beag (17 Jan 2018)

Given the story currently back in the media they certainly weren't better for women...


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## Dan Murray (17 Jan 2018)

Ceist Beag said:


> Given the story currently back in the media they certainly weren't better for women...



Well regarding our guardians of the peace......._plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose
_
I certainly had a wonderful time in the 80s....


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## michaelm (17 Jan 2018)

Firefly said:


> The wife was at home so all the cooking, cleaning, lunches, uniforms were done
> The dinner was on the table at 6 o'clock


That sounds like my house.  Not in the pub much though and golf is a good walk ruined.  I liked the 80s.  Life was simpler for sure.  My kids seem to like 80s music, movies & games(via RetroPi).


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## Betsy Og (17 Jan 2018)

Watch the start of the Commitments, as a reminder of how grim things were. If we compare ourselves to the US the gap was a huge gulf in the 80's, now not much at all. OK we now have lots of first world problems, but at least there's hope & opportunity for those who want to have a go.

Even This post will be deleted if not edited immediately said "the poor will be with us always". In Ireland if we could make decent headway on the homeless issue, the rough sleepers, and the health service then we could probably get over the rest (like Gardai needing a bit of shaping up..). Financial equilibrium, nearing full employment, much improved and improving infrastructure (other than social housing), lots of reasons to be fairly happy.


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## Thirsty (17 Jan 2018)

> Watch the start of the Commitments,


 I believe that was made in 1991 - and it was a little over done .



> 5 You could buy a house in Dublin on an average Salary


a. you needed a job
b. opening a joint savings account so you could wait in line for a mortgage was the first thing you did after getting engaged.
c. there was an 18 month waiting list for a telephone



> 6 Unemployment benefit had a pay related benefit


- and near crippled the country



> The wife was at home so all the cooking, cleaning, lunches, uniforms were done
> The dinner was on the table at 6 o'clock


This was considered outdated even then



> no need to do degree


Taking out bank loans, at high interest rates, to pay for your university fees.


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## Purple (17 Jan 2018)

I was a child and teenager in the 80's. I would be a child again for any money.

The 80's were great if you were a heterosexual man with a job but for most women, children, the disabled or marginalised, the LGBT community etc. things are much better now.
Then of course there was the mass emigration, very high taxes, grim semi-derelict towns and cities, criminal architecture, criminal economic policies, strikes, power cuts, criminal corruption, terrorism, staggeringly high flight costs, rubbish roads, drink driving... oh, and it was perfectly legal to rape your wife but against the law for two adults of the same sex to have sex.


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## Leper (18 Jan 2018)

The 80's-were-better-my-undersized-ancient-speedo-decorated-This post will be deleted if not edited to remove bad language.

1.The AIB Home Loan rate was seldom below 19.75%. The bank charged high rates because they could. Nobody stood up the banks then. They used excuses like there is a demand on money or a no demand on money to increase rates. The rate rose by 2% to 4% and came down by 0.01% whenever.

2.Most married couples had one car (at best), bare enough houses. We had a 2nd hand bicycle with car languishing in garage because we couldn't afford to run it.

3. The 80's had recession periods that make the recession just over appear like a docile doddle. Unemployment was high. House prices were rising like bejazus. Gazumping took place every morning and then every consecutive evening. Buy a house in Galway, you needed to crawl to the banks and a mortgage that compared to the national debt.

4. Petrol Shortages every month with long queues for those who could afford to run a car. You filled out an income tax form every year and were hounded within an inch of your life for the 0.50p back-tax you owed. You bought your PRSI stamps in the post-office and hoped you didn't get mixed up with Agricultural, Domestic, Wet-Time Insurance Stamps. Lose your full SW stamp card and the Special Branch were on your case.

5. The singletons had flats/bed-sits that would rival Calcutta slums. No protection for tenants. Moan to the landlord and you were immediately given a one-way ticket out the gap.

6. Managers in most jobs had little or no cop-on, never mind training. They could "supervise" in any way they wanted. 'Tis no wonder the unions membership prospered. I for one will never forget those days.

7. Lounge Bars that were sprung up in the 70's increased and surviving quaint pubs were turned into carpeted oversized sitting rooms to facilitate the up-turn of more women visiting bars who were just liberated from Babycham. The price of the pint escalated too. Pub Quizzes became popular with every second question on some Brit soccer team.

8. Thelma Mansfield drove a mini car with an exhaust pipe that farted loudly ever time she hit the accelerator. Well she had to get the extra attention somehow.

9. Package Holidays exploded to facilitate nearly everybody. You hadn't lived unless you booked a 2 + 1 break in Spain's Santa Pondlife.

10. We had Wanderly Wagon, Manuel in Fawlty Towers, Jimmy Magee, but we were saved by Frank Hall's Pictorial Weekly. Newspapers cost the same as a stamp.

. . . . . and am I pining that we should return to the 1980's style of living? . . . . . Not on your bloody life . . . . Tis a New Year and already I am succumbing to Purple's posts.


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## cremeegg (18 Jan 2018)

The 80s were better. I had more hair and less belly.


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## odyssey06 (18 Jan 2018)

The soundtrack to this thread will be brought to you by RTE Gold.


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## Purple (18 Jan 2018)

cremeegg said:


> The 80s were better. *I had more hair* and less belly.


My head had more hair but my nose, ears, back and ...other parts... had far less.


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## mtk (18 Jan 2018)

I forgot
8. 80s were hairy


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## Leo (18 Jan 2018)

mtk said:


> I forgot
> 8. 80s were hairy



And what !!


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## mtk (22 Jan 2018)

9 PC meant personal computer


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## Duke of Marmalade (23 Jan 2018)

20% betting tax and you had to go to a grubby bookie’s office.  Nowadays you can bet at negligible margin with other punters on the Internet.  Losing money is certainly a much more friendly process these days


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## Sophrosyne (23 Jan 2018)

I remember the Phoenix Magazine describing income tax rates in the eighties, which ascended from what I think was the “agony” tax rate right up to the “mudderajaysus” tax rate.


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## mtk (23 Jan 2018)

10) darts weren't full


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## Thirsty (23 Jan 2018)

@Duke of Marmalade - next time you feel like losing money let me know and I'll give you my deposit account number!


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## Purple (24 Jan 2018)

mtk said:


> 10) darts weren't full


No, but the players were really fat and drank pints while they played.


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## mtk (24 Jan 2018)

11) there was no dart accent


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## RedOnion (24 Jan 2018)

Purple said:


> No, but the players were really fat and drank pints while they played.


Brilliant. I read it the same way at first, and got very confused!


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## Duke of Marmalade (24 Jan 2018)

I really miss not being able to go to the pub and have a puff of a thin cylinder of finely cut tobacco with my beer.


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## joe sod (24 Jan 2018)

I dont agree, I was a teenager then and I never liked the 80s music , it was a big anti climax compared to the 70s. However I really liked the 90s and love 90s music. I think the 90s was probably the best decade for Ireland in that the economy was really improving and everyone was happy to be working but it was before all the brashness of the celtic tiger era.


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## Purple (25 Jan 2018)

Duke of Marmalade said:


> I really miss not being able to go to the pub and have a fag with my beer.


That was illegal back then too


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## Betsy Og (25 Jan 2018)

Oh no, PC incursion. I can hear the siren in the distance, the PC police are on their way.


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## Duke of Marmalade (25 Jan 2018)

Betsy Og said:


> Oh no, PC incursion. I can hear the siren in the distance, the PC police are on their way.


_Betsy _there are clearly things I am still not worldly wise on  I have altered my post by insertion of the Wikipedia definition though I am a bit uncertain about "puff".


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## mtk (26 Jan 2018)

12) the y2k meltdown , oops ripoff , wasn't on anyone's horizon.
13) compliance hadn't taken over the asylum


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## RETIRED2017 (5 Feb 2018)

- and near crippled the country

The statement above speaks for itself it tells me you do not understand how the system worked back then,


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## Thirsty (11 Feb 2018)

@RETIRED2017  - Do you believe the 80s were a time when Ireland had a well run economy?


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## Vanessa (19 Feb 2018)

Thirsty said:


> @RETIRED2017  - Do you believe the 80s were a time when Ireland had a well run economy?


Yes. Robert Mugabe got great inspiration from our economic management


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## odyssey06 (19 Feb 2018)

Thirsty said:


> @RETIRED2017  - Do you believe the 80s were a time when Ireland had a well run economy?



Well run *down*


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## mtk (26 Feb 2018)

12) no pay per view


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## odyssey06 (26 Feb 2018)

Apparently the "beast from the east" will bring the worst snow to Dublin since 1982... so we had better snow back then too...

Disclaimer: This may not be a good thing unless you are a schoolkid.


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## Purple (26 Feb 2018)

odyssey06 said:


> Apparently the "beast from the east" will bring the worst snow to Dublin since 1982... so we had better snow back then too...
> 
> Disclaimer: This may not be a good thing unless you are a schoolkid.


Or you hate your elderly neighbour...


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## mtk (26 Feb 2018)

13) no starbucks


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## Purple (26 Feb 2018)

mtk said:


> 13) no starbucks


That was a good thing.


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## mtk (26 Feb 2018)

14) Mike Murphy on the early morning radio waking the  nation up.


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## Ceist Beag (27 Feb 2018)

Scrap Saturday* - in fact ah, Dermot Morgan

*I know it only started in late eighties


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## mtk (28 Feb 2018)

15) no email. No mobile phones( almost?)


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## mtk (28 Feb 2018)

16) the brady bunch


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## Purple (28 Feb 2018)

mtk said:


> 16) the brady bunch


...finished in 1974...


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## mtk (28 Feb 2018)

Purple said:


> ...finished in 1974...


oops !


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## odyssey06 (28 Feb 2018)

mtk said:


> 15) no email. No mobile phones( almost?)



In the 80s, if the office is closed... you can't work... no more snow days


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## mtk (28 Feb 2018)

16) delorean cars


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## blueband (28 Feb 2018)

have to say I thought the 80s were much better, could afford to go for a few pints nearly every night with pals, even though I wasn't working full time....music was great and life was simple. It seems to be rules and regs for everything now, state interference everywhere you turn...hate to think what the next decade will be like!


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## mtk (3 Mar 2018)

17) less fake tan


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## mtk (17 Apr 2018)

18) no social media


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## mtk (4 Aug 2019)

19) no love island


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## mtk (5 Aug 2019)

20) fur bikinis


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## TarfHead (8 Aug 2019)

21). Being able to hop on and off moving buses.


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## Purple (8 Aug 2019)

22) Drink Driving
23) Slap the wife around
24) Slap the kids around
25) Be openly racist and homophobic
26) Smoke everywhere
27) By proudly misogynistic 
28) Litter everywhere
29) Let your dog out in the morning to poo everywhere
30) No use contraception (because it was banned) but still blame women if they got pregnant
... great times...


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## TarfHead (8 Aug 2019)

22). Being able to buy tickets for a match or concert without taking out a second mortgage.
23). Being non contactable when out of house / work


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## Peanuts20 (8 Aug 2019)

on the plus side

music was so much better
footballers were normal
the short puck out had never been heard of
Love Island did not exist
food was simpler and no-one took photos of their dinner
The a team, Magnum, Hill street blues. Cheers, the list goes on and on and on
choc bars were a decent size


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## Peanuts20 (8 Aug 2019)

on the negative side

Peig Sayers
almost no sport on Tv
only 2 legal channels + a few fuzzy illegal rebeamed stations
the troubles
spuds every day
Peig Sayers
Mart and Market being compulsory viewing
my mothers wooden spoon, 
Did I mention Peig Sayers??


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## odyssey06 (9 Aug 2019)

Purple said:


> 22) Drink Driving
> 23) Slap the wife around
> 24) Slap the kids around
> 25) Be openly racist and homophobic
> ...



Looking at that list I think some people still seem to be living in the 80s 

In other 80s related news, I miss Dalys 80s on RTE Gold. Was a great 1 hour programme mixing the songs of the era with random news snippets and ads.


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## TarfHead (9 Aug 2019)

Peanuts20 said:


> on the negative side
> 
> only 2 legal channels + a few fuzzy illegal rebeamed stations



Depends where you lived.  In Dublin we had 4 channels in the mid 1970s.  RTE2 was #5 in late 70s and Channel 4 was #6 in early 80s.


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## Laughahalla (9 Aug 2019)

On a global scale
People were poorer in the 80's 
People had less access to education; In particular females in developing countries in the 80's
People lived shorter lives in the 80's
People had less access to healthcare in the 80's

2019 is the best year in history to be alive and 2020 will be better and 2021 will be better again.


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## Purple (9 Aug 2019)

Peanuts20 said:


> music was so much better


I don't know about that.


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## Purple (9 Aug 2019)

Peanuts20 said:


> on the negative side
> 
> Peig Sayers
> Peig Sayers
> Did I mention Peig Sayers??



Is she the auld-wan who used to smoke turf and threw her son off a cliff and then, in posterity, subjected generations of kids to hours of torture?
Did she know that she would be the biggest factor in generations of children hating Irish?


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## RichInSpirit (9 Aug 2019)

Loved the eighties music, cycled to school, no SUV's. 
Nowadays cameras and video cameras everywhere and big brother watching every thing.


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## cremeegg (9 Aug 2019)

Peanuts20 said:


> on the negative side
> 
> Peig Sayers
> Peig Sayers
> Did I mention Peig Sayers??



B'fheidir go bhfuil tusa an "sean duine cos uait san uaigh" anois.


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## Purple (9 Aug 2019)

cremeegg said:


> B'fheidir go bhfuil tusa an "sean duine cos uait san uaigh" anois.


Je ne comprends pas


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## Peanuts20 (9 Aug 2019)

TarfHead said:


> Depends where you lived.  In Dublin we had 4 channels in the mid 1970s.  RTE2 was #5 in late 70s and Channel 4 was #6 in early 80s.


 
I recall travelling up to visit the cousins every year and watching the wrestling on a Saturday afternoon, townies were so more sophisiticated then us !!


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## Peanuts20 (9 Aug 2019)

cremeegg said:


> B'fheidir go bhfuil tusa an "sean duine cos uait san uaigh" anois.


 
What has Sean Dunne got to do with Peig Sayers?

The fact that after 13 years in school learning Irish I still struggle with my smallies 2nd class Irish says a lot about school in the 70's and 80's


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## Purple (9 Aug 2019)

Peanuts20 said:


> What has Sean Dunne got to do with Peig Sayers?


 Lol


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## cremeegg (9 Aug 2019)

Peanuts20 said:


> What has Sean Dunne got to do with Peig Sayers?



The first line of Peig is "sean bhean mise anois, cois uaim san uaigh" I am an old woman now with one foot in the grave.

After your post 55 above,  I was suggesting, tongue-in-cheek, that while you were the bored student in the 1980s who had to endure Peig,  now perhaps it is you who is the grumpy old woman.


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## elacsaplau (9 Aug 2019)

cremeegg said:


> The first line of Peig is "sean bhean mise anois, cois uaim san uaigh" I am an old woman now with one foot in the grave.



Cremeegg,

Why are you making things up and butchering an teanga álainn?
That said, it's clear that you speak the good English!


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## Purple (12 Aug 2019)

cremeegg said:


> The first line of Peig is "sean bhean mise anois, cois uaim san uaigh" I am an old woman now with one foot in the grave.


and it went downhill from there.


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## Peanuts20 (12 Aug 2019)

cremeegg said:


> The first line of Peig is "sean bhean mise anois, cois uaim san uaigh" I am an old woman now with one foot in the grave.
> 
> After your post 55 above,  I was suggesting, tongue-in-cheek, that while you were the bored student in the 1980s who had to endure Peig,  now perhaps it is you who is the grumpy old woman.



Age is but a number and as for being a woman...................  Grumpy is probably accurate though 

Sold all my books after the leaving bar 2, Peig Sayers and the English translation which both went on the fire. I do regret not having better Irish but that wagon was not the way to teach it.


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## mtk (18 Aug 2019)

No mrs browns boys


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## mtk (28 Sep 2020)

No Covid 19 restrictions masks etc


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## joe sod (28 Sep 2020)

Peanuts20 said:


> Peig Sayers and the English translation which both went on the fire. I do regret not having better Irish but that wagon was not the way to teach it.


I agree that Peig should not have been on the leaving cert it was way beyond the comprehension of young students, afterall it was basically the story of an old woman looking back on her life on the Blaskets. However it did give a rare view into island life in the nineteeth century . I think it wasnt actually written by Peig but by Robin Flowers an english academic who went to live on the island, Peig told her life story and he wrote it down as she couldn't write herself I think.


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## Deiseblue (28 Sep 2020)

Not only responsible for 800 years of torment but now it appears that an Englishman was responsible for Peig as well !
Gits !


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## Leper (1 Oct 2020)

If Peig had died in her infancy she would have saved me a lot of trouble.


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## joe sod (1 Oct 2020)

Peig was only one book though in an anthology of works from the blaskets, others include "twenty years a growing" and "The Islandman". They are an extraordinary look into island life in the nineteenth and early 20th  centuries. They then became central to the Gaelic revival movement, but none of it would have been written except for a Norwegian and an English academic. It's a pity that peig was force fed to young students by over zealous Gaelic fundamentalists.


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## Purple (1 Oct 2020)

I was never going to be any good at Irish but Peig was torture.


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## peemac (9 Oct 2020)

Ah the eighties where cash was king. 

In advertising of a now closed media company you got 20% commission for cash deals and 15% if the advertiser paid by cheque. 

I specialized in housing development advertising where cheques did not exist for some clients  

Mortgages were easy to come by as the local manager made the decision and an envelope and nod got you the mortgage. 

And then there was Annabels followed by Leeson Street and then breakfast in the Manhattan.. Now that was life. 

The eighties were good


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## PMU (10 Oct 2020)

Of course they were better.  Mortgage rates above 10% and hitting 16.25% in 1981/82.  Inflation at 20.08% in the year to June 1980.  Unemployment at 18.8% in 1987.  Of course, you could always listed to Renee and Renata.


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## Purple (11 Oct 2020)

Inflation like that meant that your mortgage was reduced in real terms by 20% a year. We’ve had no real inflation for 20 years now. That’s why people can’t afford houses.


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## Leper (12 Oct 2020)

Purple said:


> Inflation like that meant that your mortgage was reduced in real terms by 20% a year. We’ve had no real inflation for 20 years now. That’s why people can’t afford houses.


For the truthful record:-
1. AIB Homeloans interest rate hit 19.75%. Rates used to increase at 2% nearly every ten minutes. We were broke.
2. Groceries and petrol increased in price almost every week. There was no Lidl or Aldi back then or even £10 off your £50.00 spend even if you could afford it. Dealz didn't exist either. We locked up our car then when houses used to have garages. I became a cyclist before cycle lanes and although few cyclists were on the road, it was still dangerous.
3. Inflation was so rampant any new wage increase was whittled away before you got it. 
4. If you could afford a car and to run it very few had more than one car in the driveway. 
5. We had a Minister for Hardship on Halls Pictorial Weekly (RTE television) whose say was greater than the government's Minister for Finance.

We need to go back to the 80's like we need to be infected by syphilis.


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## Purple (12 Oct 2020)

Leper said:


> For the truthful record:-
> 1. AIB Homeloans interest rate hit 19.75%. Rates used to increase at 2% nearly every ten minutes. We were broke.
> 2. Groceries and petrol increased in price almost every week. There was no Lidl or Aldi back then or even £10 off your £50.00 spend even if you could afford it. Dealz didn't exist either. We locked up our car then when houses used to have garages. I became a cyclist before cycle lanes and although few cyclists were on the road, it was still dangerous.
> 3. Inflation was so rampant any new wage increase was whittled away before you got it.
> ...


I don't disagree with any of that but the fact remains that wage inflation causes more wealth to be retained by labour. With no inflation for 20 years wealth has become concentrated in Capital. That's bad for society as it means wealth becomes concentrated amongst those who inherit and so we become less meritorious.


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## Leper (12 Oct 2020)

Purple said:


> I don't disagree with any of that but the fact remains that wage inflation causes more wealth to be retained by labour. With no inflation for 20 years wealth has become concentrated in Capital. That's bad for society as it means wealth becomes concentrated amongst those who inherit and so we become less meritorious.



I don't care where wealth is concentrated now. I just know I need the 80's situation like I need to be infected with Covid. The eighties was a goddawful time for us. I'll never forget the time and won't forgive the banks ever for the ways in which they acted.

If anybody wants to return to the 80's style of living I'll believe them when I see them using cloth nappies instead of the "snugglers." Furthermore, this is one reason I still don't listen to tree-huggers.

. . . . and you can throw in the people who tell me not to cut my grass to save the bees. Can we save humans, for a change?

. . . . and while I'm at it can we expel those "experts" who inform us with money problems that "you're better off with Vulture Funds."

I'm going back to bed. I hope I don't have one of those dreams like people who have what they want telling us who haven't what we want, that we really don't want it.


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## Purple (12 Oct 2020)

Leper said:


> I'm going back to bed. I hope I don't have one of those dreams like people who have what they want telling us who haven't what we want, that we really don't want it.


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## PMU (12 Oct 2020)

Purple said:


> Inflation like that meant that your mortgage was reduced in real terms by 20% a year. We’ve had no real inflation for 20 years now. That’s why people can’t afford houses.


Only if your salary exceeded the rate of inflation; or you were on a fixed mortgage rate below the rate of inflation; or your variable mortgage rate remained below the rate of inflation, i.e. situations where your mortgage repayment took up a continuing smaller percentage of your salary, i.e. economic conditions that may have existed in fairyland but not for most people in the 80s.

If mortgages are unaffordable at rates of around 3.5% today, it's amazing the were affordable at rates of 16% in the 80s.


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## Purple (12 Oct 2020)

PMU said:


> Only if your salary exceeded the rate of inflation; or you were on a fixed mortgage rate below the rate of inflation; or your variable mortgage rate remained below the rate of inflation, i.e. situations where your mortgage repayment took up a continuing smaller percentage of your salary, i.e. economic conditions that may have existed in fairyland but not for most people in the 80s.


If your mortgage repayment is 50% of your pay in year one but inflation is 7% then by year 5 is will be one third of your pay in 5 years. That's the point; inflation eats away at the real capital value of your mortgage. Unless you are not paying your repayments the interest you are being charged doesn't come into it.



PMU said:


> If mortgages are unaffordable at rates of around 3.5% today, it's amazing the were affordable at rates of 16% in the 80s.


 the cost of property is determined by what people can repay every month. If the average buyer can repay €1500 a month then the average property will cost whatever €1500 a month will finance. Therefore low interest rates = high property prices and high interest rates = low property prices. Therefore the best time to buy a house is when interest rates are high.

I remember the 80's. It was bleak and aweful. I love how this country has changed over the last 30-40 years but moaning about high interest rates just doesn't stand up to scrutiny. Imaging the high repayments you were making in the 80's. Now imagine if you'd had to make them for 20 years with no pay increase and your house was worth less than you paid for it. Welcome to buying in the 00's.


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## Deiseblue (12 Oct 2020)

If you were young, single and employed then the 80’s was a cracking decade.
Waterford won the FAI cup in 1980 after a gap of 43 years , Ireland qualified for Euro 1988 and I was lucky enough to witness both occasions.
Music was excellent and gigs were plentiful and cheap and it was relatively easy to travel to the UK - I saw Springsteen in the NEC , Birmingham and Jackson Browne in the Hammersmith Odeon and also I went to see Spurs on multiple occasions.
Socially , I played football at a relatively high level throughout the 80’s enjoying both the camaraderie and the competition.
The Pubs were lively and although the memories are somewhat cloudy I had a whale of a time.
I was lucky enough to work in the Bank of Ireland which was hugely unionised with a short working day , lunch and coffee breaks and  populated by a host of great characters which was so different to the rather gray 90’s and beyond as the hitherto brilliantly organised social scene withered on the vine.
I know this a hugely personalised view of the 80’s and enjoying it was hugely dependent on one’s circumstances but I would think that if you couldn’t enjoy the decades when you were young , single and employed then something is wrong.


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## Purple (12 Oct 2020)

Deiseblue said:


> I would think that if you couldn’t enjoy the decades when you were young , single and employed then something is wrong.


Excellent point. If you have it good at all when you are young free and single then you should be enjoying yourself.


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## Purple (12 Oct 2020)

Deiseblue said:


> I was lucky enough to work in the Bank of Ireland which was hugely unionised with a short working day , lunch and coffee breaks


See , it was him what was upsetting you!


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## Leper (12 Oct 2020)

Purple said:


> See , it was him what was upsetting you!



I'm still in bed and great, I can't remember any dreams.

But, some of my Waterford memories of the 1980's
I remember the famous Waterford -v- Manchester Utd match in Lansdowne Road but that was in the 70's.
I worked as a volunteer each year at the Waterford Festival of Light Opera.
I remember Richie Power winning a top squash competition in de la Salle club Waterford. 
We danced in the Ardree Hotel overlooking Waterford.
Tramore was buzzing and I made a few bob in the last race during August in backing the Fav which traditionally won. 
Believe it or not I saved a life in Kilfarrissey where a person got trapped on a rock on the incoming tide. 
I even performed in Tops of the Town (Theatre Royal).
Woodstown was terrific for swimming and the tan lasted for the rest of the year.
Our first child was born in Airmount.

Perhaps the 80's weren't that bad when you consider what might have happened.


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## Thirsty (13 Oct 2020)

Oh man...Tops of the Town! 

It was dated even by 80s standards, but incredibly popular.

I think it was unique to Ireland? Don't know of a nationwide show like it anywhere else?


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## joer (13 Oct 2020)

Tops of the town was very popular in the South East and was great fun and I was happy to have taken part in so many.


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## Thirsty (13 Oct 2020)

So of course I had to google "tops of the town" and this came up.  

TV ads from 1984:  

Skip the first 3 mins or so and howl at the voice overs and still photos.  My favourite is the announcement for Cadbury's selection box which sounds like someone reading the death notices on the radio! 






						- YouTube
					

Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.




					youtu.be


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## joer (14 Oct 2020)

In my opinion music in the eighties was better than what’s on offer now.


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## Purple (14 Oct 2020)

joer said:


> In my opinion music in the eighties was better than what’s on offer now.


I dunno about that. Same ratio of rubbish to quality as now in my opinion.


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## joer (14 Oct 2020)

I would not agree with that . There was some rubbish in the eighties but not as much as there is now.


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## Purple (14 Oct 2020)

joer said:


> I would not agree with that . There was some rubbish in the eighties but not as much as there is now.


Do remember that the market is aimed at people who are the same age you were in the 80's


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## joer (14 Oct 2020)

Agreed,  we are both right about the eighties so...in both our opinions ,of course..


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## joe sod (14 Oct 2020)

Deiseblue said:


> I would think that if you couldn’t enjoy the decades when you were young , single and employed then something is wrong.



well something is wrong today with the coronavirus, young free and single doesn't mean much when you can't go anywhere and everything social has been shut down more or less since March. In that regard the 80s were much better in comparison to the immediate life of a young person now.


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## Peanuts20 (15 Oct 2020)

I also don't recall so much "stress" in the 80's. Life seemed that much more relaxed. Maybe it was because we had lower expectations.?


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## joer (15 Oct 2020)

We were all so much younger then , no pressure as such. Jobs were easier to get , all you needed was a leaving cert. Nowadays you need college degrees to have a chance of getting anything. Right now , of course you would be lucky to hold on to what you have.


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## joe sod (15 Oct 2020)

@joer jobs were easier to get in the 80s !!, I don't think so, why did we have such high unemployment and emigration rates then. If you had a job yes it was better, because the union's were stronger and more difficult to get fired, also you had less competition for house buying as there was high unemployment, high emigration and virtually no immigration. Ireland was the poorest of the rich countries, if you look at clips of the 80s we look very like an eastern block country


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## Purple (15 Oct 2020)

joe sod said:


> If you had a job yes it was better, because the union's were stronger and more difficult to get fired, also you had less competition for house buying as *there was high unemployment, high emigration and virtually no immigration*


That second bit was also because the Unions were stronger then.


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## Leper (15 Oct 2020)

Purple said:


> That second bit was also because the Unions were stronger then.


He's off again . . . . . . . is there no stopping him?


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## joer (15 Oct 2020)

But towns were booming then not like now...


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## Purple (15 Oct 2020)

Leper said:


> He's off again . . . . . . . is there no stopping him?


No.


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## Leo (16 Oct 2020)

Leper said:


> He's off again . . . . . . . is there no stopping him?



He's not in a union, so no one is mandating that he stop at the designated break times!


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## joer (16 Oct 2020)

Don't mention the war  Leo


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## Vanessa (17 Oct 2020)

It's a lot tougher to make money now. There is so much C.C.T.V in the banks and better alarm systems, D.N.A. has advanced, not as much cash in circulation and so many more armed Gardai around. Give me the 80s anytime


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## joer (17 Oct 2020)

Or you did not need degrees to get jobs either. A good leaving cert would do.


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## peemac (17 Oct 2020)

joer said:


> But towns were booming then not like now...


If you said this last March, you'd be right, but covid has brought life back to towns. 

You may even start seeing population increases with the 80's emigrants starting to return and work from home.


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## joer (17 Oct 2020)

Covid has put a damper on everything of course. 
I still think the eighties were better than  times are now up to March ish .


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## Leo (19 Oct 2020)

joer said:


> Or you did not need degrees to get jobs either. A good leaving cert would do.



So 1980's doctors are best avoided I guess?


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## joer (19 Oct 2020)

If doctors were good enough to get jobs with good leaving certs fair play to them , though I doubt it. I know lots of very good people who got very good jobs with very good leaving certs.


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