I’m hearing this in the media a lot recently.
Well-to-do Talking Heads given an uncritical open microphone saying “we all got swept along in the mania so now it’s time to bear the cost and learn from our mistakes”.
They seem to be under the impression that everyone was carrying on as they were.
Maybe everyone in their circle of acquaintences were, but not everyone, not the workers in the multi-nationals who were being paid internationally competitive wages, not the Cashier in the local LIDL but they don’t brush shoulders with those people from one end of the week to the next.
I’ve got news for them most people weren’t at the party and don’t want to pay for the clean up.
Those who were at the party were buying multiple properties, equity releasing and oversea holidaying good-o.
Not the rest of us.
4.5M-ish people in the country. 4.5M houses weren’t built. 4.5M german luxo barges weren’t bought. 4.5M golf memberships weren’t bought. 4.5M foreign sun holidays weren’t holidayed.
Nearly 8m trips abroad though in 2007…
Beat me to it! Dublin Airport couldn’t cope with the numbers. But good post OP.
You’re not married are you?
It blesses one with an intricate understanding of when something is yours, their’s or shared.
Those trips abroad by Irish residents could have been de fordiners going home for a quick visit.
There is a huge difference between a 20 euro ryanair trip and a Sun Holiday in a rented villa in Malaga.
Strip out RyanAir traffic and see where you are at.
The more salient point is business travel but I was just showing your global numbers didn’t stack (don’t mention NY shopping trips people! 
).
So are you saying that everyone was going on expensive Sun Holidays.
Are you an Agent Provacateur without a cause?
I’m saying as ever, that the truth is somewhere in between.
Just look at the explosion of private sector debt over those years, alot of it was plastic related.
I think the majority were to blame. FF were relected in 2006 and there is an awful lot of people to blame for that.
I hated it too when when politics became “collectively corrupt” when FF were responsible for 99% of the corruption. Damn that Michael Lowery!
We had a booming economy, low taxes, low unemployment, good welfare rates etc. To a certain extent we all benefitted. People who thought it would end in tears and acted accordingly are going to benefit (relatively) from the collapse.
It was '07 if I remember correctly and FF were re-elected by a minority of the voting population with treachorous support given by the leaders of the Green party.
I was trying to think of the year. Is it not a 5 year term?
They got a good 40% or so of the vote. The majority of the people I know were fairly supportive of the property boom, thought it was great. I’d say at least 70% of people are to blame.
To a certain extent most people got swept along to some degree as access to cheap credit more income people had access to money that they didnt have before, and what happened?
THEY WENT BONKERS BANANAS CRAZY BUYING 4X4s AND ANYTHING THAT SHONE LIKE A MURDER OF CROWS WITH A BLING FETTISH, the amount of tat that money was wasted on from must have IPhones to women driving 7 seater Audi 4x4s with a fag in one hand and a mobile in the other.
Tradesmen earning 70 and 80k plus another 30 or 40k doin nixers while the poor PS worker earned FA except benchmarking and a guaranteed pension etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc.
So whose to blame? Its the banks of course and the gubberment for holding a gun to our heads an sayin “spend it ya bollix”, sure we all needed the extra apartment in bankso an the Pre 63 section 60 multi let on the NCR for 1 mill +.
The reality is very few of us stopped to think should I do this? The end result is that we as a nation have been stupid and are not without blame, we were sold a pup an by jaysus did we buy it. 
+1
Great post spqr64! Did you smash a coffee mug after that rant??? 
I share tugs sentiments. Good show.
Ah shucks lads stop the compliments FFS de embarassment is killin me 
You are just remembering the bling because it was so in yer face, not those who were careful with their earnings over that period of time.
When I was growing up it was accepted that if your family were wealthy then you spent your money in a low key fashion as there were many around who were desperately poor.
This went out the door in the 90s.
Low key went out the door in the 90s to be replaced by the entitlement culture in the 00s the age of “I want it an I want it NOW” the only thing was nobody ever stopped to think who was gonna pay for it?