What a depressing day ....

DB74 said:

My monthly mortgage, car loan, personal loan & childminder payments are very real.

And if I lose my job and have to stop paying one or other of the loans then the letters I receive from the bank will also be very real.

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Yes they are real, as are my debts and everyone elses, it's the 'if I lose my job' part that interests me. The burden of debt is there for the majority of our lives not just through the tough economical times.

annR said:

I agree with this and DB74, things are a bit different now. People are under more pressure, 2 spouses working and higher mortgages.

Anyway just cos people got on with it and didnt have cafe lattes etc back then doesn't mean that it's fine and dandy to back in time to 80s style emigration, health service etc . ..what annoys me most is how our wealth was squandered. We could have improved our country instead of now going backwards. I don't accept that it's just the normal way of things that Ireland is going to have a bad economy and low standard of living .. . .we were as rich as hell and squandered it. Maybe because someone had that attitude and decided, 'may as well live in luxury and spend while we can' instead of actually having some kind of longer term vision for this country.

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What good is there in being annoyed with the waste that has gone on before, there are lessons to be learned, but there is still an overwhelming attitude of blame rather than a renewed vigour to get back up and start again.

MrMan said:

but there is still an overwhelming attitude of blame rather than a renewed vigour to get back up and start again.

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i would go a bit further in this and say that there is a culture in Ireland to lay blame at other peoples door for situations that one person may have gotten themselves into and to complain about the situation to get a sympathetic ear from some one, with out ever considering that it was their fault or their decision which led to their frought circumstances what ever they may be. There does need to be a mind shift from trying to find that listening ear, to thinking about changing the situation with which you are faced and tackle it head on.
take for instance the hoset advice given by white goodmann, grabbing the bull by the horns and then going out and doing it

burger1979 said:

i would go a bit further in this and say that there is a culture in Ireland to lay blame at other peoples door for situations that one person may have gotten themselves into and to complain about the situation to get a sympathetic ear from some one, with out ever considering that it was their fault or their decision which led to their frought circumstances what ever they may be. There does need to be a mind shift from trying to find that listening ear, to thinking about changing the situation with which you are faced and tackle it head on.
take for instance the hoset advice given by white goodmann, grabbing the bull by the horns and then going out and doing it

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The issue is that people cannot change the situation that they are in, even if they wanted to. There are people who have negative equity on their homes or investment properties several times what their annual income is.

The notion, as expressed in the past few pages, that someone could in the past few years have paid off their mortgage in ten years was not a reality for most people. The fancy cars and foreign holidays were the preserve of those who were at least five years in to their mortgage. People who took the first plunge into home ownership in the 21st century have mostly bought in an area which didn't suit them or an unsuitable property and severely pushed themselves to do so.

This mess is very real to a lot of people. There are those who had the good fortune to be born some 15 years previously and who managed to build equity in a decent home close to their work or family. They will be the first to escape from this mess.

annR said:

I agree with this and DB74, things are a bit different now. People are under more pressure, 2 spouses working and higher mortgages.

Anyway just cos people got on with it and didnt have cafe lattes etc back then doesn't mean that it's fine and dandy to back in time to 80s style emigration, health service etc . ..what annoys me most is how our wealth was squandered. We could have improved our country instead of now going backwards. I don't accept that it's just the normal way of things that Ireland is going to have a bad economy and low standard of living .. . .we were as rich as hell and squandered it. Maybe because someone had that attitude and decided, 'may as well live in luxury and spend while we can' instead of actually having some kind of longer term vision for this country.

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Ann, we were never rich as hell. It was all credit.

That's true but if we'd spent it on something worthwhile we might have something to show for our boom/bust instead of loads of empty houses.

MrMan and burger1979 I'm fine with my personal situation so not looking to blame anyone for my debts etc. But yes I do blame the people who ran this country for bankrupting us.

>>renewed vigour to get back up and start again.<<
Yes it would be great to see some signs of us digging ourselves out of this but the news seems to just get worse and worse.

RIP to the wee innocent children and women who died today, a truely depressing day.

Thanks for posting this Marietta - in spite of all the misery around, our troubles are tiny compared to those families in Cork and Limerick today. RIP.