The 70's and 80's in Ireland

conorhal

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

By that stage condoms were available in SOME pharmacies but the pill was prescription only.

I think you'll find that the pill still requires a prescription, as any drug with a substantial biological impact should be.

It was silly that you could only buy condoms in a pharmacy however. I remember the pearl clutching when Virgin Megastore started selling condoms but within months it was commonplace.
It was the moral equivelent of having to keep cigarettes and booze behind a curtian today least children see these things and become morally corrupted by them.

ohnonotgmail

conorhal wrote: »

All these things, from condoms to the pill were available in your pharmacy.
The weird hysteria and bizarre ignorance of people that think the 80's were like some kind of medieval inquisition is pretty funny.

conorhal wrote: »

I think you'll find that the pill still requires a prescription, as any drug with a substantial biological impact should be.

It was silly that you could only buy condoms in a pharmacy however. I remember the pearl clutching when Virgin Megastore started selling condoms but within months it was commonplace.
It was the moral equivelent of having to keep cigarettes and booze behind a curtian today least children see these things.

I know the pill still requires a prescription from a doctor.

EmmetSpiceland

cgcsb wrote: »

A guy I know told me that pre internet the gap between Dublin and the rest was way bigger than it is now in terms of trends, fashion, food and even things like music and even commonly owned household appliances.

Outside of Cork, Galway and Dublin the fashion for young men was almost universal. Was like a “rural” uniform of combat trousers, black “heavy metal” T-shirt, big black boots and a ponytail. As they aged they added long chinny beards.

It’s still seen in most parts of Longford and Mayo.

You’d see these lads hanging out around the “main street” smoking fags and spitting most evenings during the summer months.

Deebles McBeebles

EmmetSpiceland wrote: »

Outside of Cork, Galway and Dublin the fashion for young men was almost universal. Was like a “rural” uniform of combat trousers, black “heavy metal” T-shirt, big black boots and a ponytail. As they aged they added long chinny beards.

It’s still seen in most parts of Longford and Mayo.

You’d see these lads hanging out around the “main street” smoking fags and spitting most evenings during the summer months.

Very much in cities too Emmet, Central Bank in Dublin was the epicentre of it back in the day.

EmmetSpiceland

Deebles McBeebles wrote: »

Very much in cities too Emmet, Central Bank in Dublin was the epicentre of it back in the day.

Probably up for the day on the “red setter” buses.

farmchoice

what is it with a cohort of people on boards who at every opportunity try and paint people from the country as lesser than them.


i have lived all my life in Ireland in the county and in Dublin i dont think in those 40 plus year i have ever in real life met someone who goes on like this or who would speak like this to a real person.
is it just your internet warrior kind of thing or is there a new section of of extremely ignorant people emerging in society.

cgcsb

farmchoice wrote: »

what is it with a cohort of people on boards who at every opportunity try and paint people from the country as lesser than them.


i have lived all my life in Ireland in the county and in Dublin i dont think in those 40 plus year i have ever in real life met someone who goes on like this or who would speak like this to a real person.
is it just your internet warrior kind of thing or is there a new section of of extremely ignorant people emerging in society.

don't be such a snowflake, it's after hours. :pac:

Sardonicat

cgcsb wrote: »

JupiterKid wrote: »

It was only about 1991 or 1992 when johnnies could be sold in pub toilet vending machines. Virgin Megastore in Dublin got into trouble for selling them around 1989 or so.

As a millennial, I just can't get my head around this. Who enforced this? who cooperated with this regime? Are they alive today? why aren't they on trial? HAve they been executed already? AIDS was rampant in the western world, they were putting people's lives in danger.

What do you mean, why aren't they on trial? After 85 you could get condoms in a pharmacy or Family Planning Clinic if you were lucky enough to live near one. If you lived in anything larger than a village you would be able to get your hands on them easy enough. But it was certainly hard for young people, especially girls, to go into a chemist and ask for condoms. Only being able to get them in a chemist, behind the counter,was pretty universal in most countries til the mid to late 80s anyway. But the situation up to 85 here was an absolute disgrace.

Hotblack Desiato

cgcsb wrote: »

A guy I know told me that pre internet the gap between Dublin and the rest was way bigger than it is now in terms of trends, fashion, food and even things like music and even commonly owned household appliances.

I think access to satellite TV was the game changer there, not the internet.

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

By that stage condoms were available in SOME pharmacies but the pill was prescription only.

My then girlfriend went into a pharmacy with her pill prescription - not her usual pharmacy but this one was nearer

They told her "We don't do that sort of thing"

This was 1993

In Dublin.

In f**king Rathmines, of all places in Dublin.

F**king ridiculous.

There was also a large chemists near SCR which didn't stock condoms, was owned by a major FF family.

This was back when there was still no treatment for AIDS

Talk about f**king irresponsible.

Hotblack Desiato

Grandeeod wrote: »

I grew up in Finglas south and Neilstown during the 80s. It wasn't a picnic, but my memories are happy. But then my father a had a full time job as a truck driver and my mother was a cleaner in the local school.

There you have it, both your parents had pretty secure jobs, whatever about being well-paid there was always a steady income coming into the house

For a lot of people it wasn't like that, at all.

Your earlier statement "I firmly believe that most people from Dublin have better memories" is true for some, definitely wrong for many, true for most? very debatable.

Dublin in the 70s/80s had some of the worst deprivation in Western Europe. Other parts of Dublin were quite well off, of course.

Widdershins

It was the 00's when the new adult shop was protested in Ennis . Afaik they never opened one there since .

branie2

Widdershins wrote: »

It was the 00's when the new adult shop was protested in Ennis . Afaik they never opened one there since .

I think it was earlier than that

Deebles McBeebles

farmchoice wrote: »

what is it with a cohort of people on boards who at every opportunity try and paint people from the country as lesser than them.


i have lived all my life in Ireland in the county and in Dublin i dont think in those 40 plus year i have ever in real life met someone who goes on like this or who would speak like this to a real person.
is it just your internet warrior kind of thing or is there a new section of of extremely ignorant people emerging in society.

Ah I wouldn't take it too seriously. In real life I've often had the same conversations but only as a joke with whatever bloody Jackeen happens to be yapping at me at the time.

Grayson

branie2 wrote: »

I think it was earlier than that

Remember the protests outside Stringfellows? And I mean the strip club on parnell st, not the night club in Mullingar

BalcombeSt4

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

What was it like in the 1980's in Ireland?

I have seen pictures, video and my god it looked like a depressing place. :eek:

Grey, delapidated, hopeless.

What was it like? How did you get by without internets, wheelie bins, toilets...?

Would you go back if you could??

*Might as well throw in the 70's too for people of that vintage.

Well I live in Bray and I remember it being a much brigther place, the 70s had the Chairlift thing up Bray head, they had the outdoor pools & bath things around the cove, there was atleast 5 Arcades on the seafront in the late 80's, all of them are now gone, 3 of them turned into Casinos for our casino economy, and all of the arcades had their own unique machines & games, like the Fun Palace was more for children & then Dawsons was bit more for older teens / young adults. Loads of shops & stuff have closed, it used to have a bright vibrant night life, that's gone, I remember every pub used to have at least 1 snooker & 1 pool table each, several had a couple eah, now none have any, atleast none on the seafront, Brayhead Hotel now looks like something out of a horror film. This threads depressing me. We had a poorer economy in the 70's & 80's, but had more stuff, when the Celtic tiger came it must have got hungry & ate the shops & clubs, pubs etc,... We have a lot more banks, now, banks to payback all the debt we owed for having a good time in the 70's, 80's & 90's, sorry 21st century. I suppose this is what happens when you have a failing capitalist system that keeps crashing every few years, the conservatives blame the greedy workers asking for a pay rise, so they have some money to feed themselves & their children, selfish workers.

cgcsb

Grayson wrote: »

Remember the protests outside Stringfellows? And I mean the strip club on parnell st, not the night club in Mullingar

I have a vague recolection of that and at the time found it strange because at the time there were other well known strip joints, perhaps not as well known as the stringfellows chain, but I still don't get why all the crosses and statues came out to protest this one and not the, already well established, risque strands of Dublin Nightlife.

branie2

Other than Lourdes in 1985 and the Isle of Man in 1989, most of our family holidays was spent in Ireland.

cgcsb

conorhal wrote: »

The weird hysteria and bizarre ignorance of people that think the 80's were like some kind of medieval inquisition is pretty funny.

There were operational Magdalene Laundries and male homosexuality was a criminal offence. It was basically the middle ages but with perms.

Ash.J.Williams

farmchoice wrote: »

what is it with a cohort of people on boards who at every opportunity try and paint people from the country as lesser than them.


i have lived all my life in Ireland in the county and in Dublin i dont think in those 40 plus year i have ever in real life met someone who goes on like this or who would speak like this to a real person.
is it just your internet warrior kind of thing or is there a new section of of extremely ignorant people emerging in society.

Don't get your wranglers in a twist

Widdershins

branie2 wrote: »

I think it was earlier than that

The one I know of had to have been after 2001. 2003 maybe . I was away from Ireland before that . I remember discussing it with a few different people here when it was happening .

bullpost

cgcsb wrote: »

There were operational Magdalene Laundries and male homosexuality was a criminal offence. It was basically the middle ages but with perms.

I for one am glad we are living in more enlightened times. The majority on the Island repeatedly voting for political parties who are ignoring climate change, ignoring a homeless crisis which just keeps getting worse and a general narcissistic obsession with social media..............

Wonder how the boardies of twenty years from now will call it?

cgcsb

bullpost wrote: »

I for one am glad we are living in more enlightened times. The majority on the Island repeatedly voting for political parties who are ignoring climate change, ignoring a homeless crisis which just keeps getting worse and a general narcissistic obsession with social media..............

Wonder how the boardies of twenty years from now will call it?

I'm not saying current times aren't sh!te, I'm saying back then was worse.

SharpshooterTom

Guys I asked this question a few pages back so I'll just ask again, would you rather be a kid in todays world or keep your childhood of the 80s/90s?

bullpost

cgcsb wrote: »

I'm not saying current times aren't sh!te, I'm saying back then was worse.

But you cant make that comparison. Only those in the future can.

SharpshooterTom

cgcsb wrote: »

I'm not saying current times aren't sh!te, I'm saying back then was worse.

Depends on the person, for minorities and LGBT it certainly was, but Ireland and many parts of Western Europe didn't have as many minorities. Even the UK was less than 5% non white in the 1980s, compared to 15-20% today.

Also we can pick holes in the in the 1980s, but compared to then income inequality has gotten WORSE today thanks to the legacies of Reagan and Thatcher and lots of other western countries trying to copy them since.

Seanachai

ThomasFlynn wrote: »

Guys I asked this question a few pages back so I'll just ask again, would you rather be a kid in todays world or keep your childhood of the 80s/90s?

Keep the 80s\90s childhood without a doubt, there's too much head noise these days.

Deebles McBeebles

ThomasFlynn wrote: »

Guys I asked this question a few pages back so I'll just ask again, would you rather be a kid in todays world or keep your childhood of the 80s/90s?

80s/90s without a doubt. Would not enjoy growing up in todays world.

conorhal

cgcsb wrote: »

I'm not saying current times aren't sh!te, I'm saying back then was worse.

I look around today at the levels of unhappiness, anxiety and isolation in the country. The numbers of people on anti-depressants (which seems like half the population), the number of children in need of treatment for accute psychological problems. The degree to which as a society, we are self medicating ourselves into an early grave with alcohol and drugs. The degree to which people ar killing themselves and each other in ever greater numbers, even children raping killing other children, and I don't for a second believe that things today are 'better' by any metric bar economic. Even there the hours people are working keep getting longer as their job security diminishes along with the quality time they get to spend with family.

ArnoldJRimmer

conorhal wrote: »

I look around today at the levels of unhappiness, anxiety and isolation in the country. The numbers of people on anti-depressants (which seems like half the population), the number of children in need of treatment for accute psychological problems. The degree to which as a society, we are self medicating ourselves into an early grave with alcohol and drugs. The degree to which people ar killing themselves and each other in ever greater numbers, even children raping killing other children, and I don't for a second believe that things today are 'better' by any metric bar economic. Even there the hours people are working keep getting longer as their job security diminishes along with the quality time they get to spend with family.

While I agree that things may not necessarily be better now, its worth remembering that depression and unhappiness all existed back then too, but no one talked about it. This is not a new thing, and the cause of these problems didn't just stem from the affluence we experienced as a result of the Celtic Tiger, its also because everything is more out in the open

Alcoholism in particular was as prevalent as people's budgets allowed. Murder rates are of course up, but domestic violence was probably more acceptable. Institutional abuse was only starting to die out in the 1980's, I remember the 'poor' kids in my class getting the sh!t kicked out of them by nuns.

I think both era's have their good and bad points. I can't even imagine how I would have coped with social media as a child, and with all the technological advances we've made, I don't think my childhood suffered from not having the latest and greatest gadgets, if anything its made me more resourceful as an adult

cgcsb

conorhal wrote: »

I look around today at the levels of unhappiness, anxiety and isolation in the country. The numbers of people on anti-depressants (which seems like half the population), the number of children in need of treatment for accute psychological problems. The degree to which as a society, we are self medicating ourselves into an early grave with alcohol and drugs. The degree to which people ar killing themselves and each other in ever greater numbers, even children raping killing other children, and I don't for a second believe that things today are 'better' by any metric bar economic. Even there the hours people are working keep getting longer as their job security diminishes along with the quality time they get to spend with family.

All the things you have mentioned also existed then in just as large/larger proportions but it wasn't spoken of. IF someone killed themselves back then, quite common, it was recorded as 'an accident' and not spoken of again. Alcoholism was more common and extreme then than now.

bullpost

cgcsb wrote: »

All the things you have mentioned also existed then in just as large/larger proportions but it wasn't spoken of. IF someone killed themselves back then, quite common, it was recorded as 'an accident' and not spoken of again. Alcoholism was more common and extreme then than now.

where are you getting your statistics from?

From Alcohol Ireland website :
"Alcohol consumption in Ireland almost trebled over four decades between 1960 (4.9 litres) and 2001 (14.3 litres)."

Widdershins

90s childhood bred resourcefulness, imagination , etc but I like the accessibility and choices the internet offers. It's of massive importance for my interests and work. In the 90s I always had this feeling that something like it was coming although of course I couldn't envisage what the internet would be like .

cgcsb

bullpost wrote: »

where are you getting your statistics from?

From Alcohol Ireland website :
"Alcohol consumption in Ireland almost trebled over four decades between 1960 (4.9 litres) and 2001 (14.3 litres)."

https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/5263/1/1255-1014_National_Alcohol_Policy.pdf

When you pick out two extreme data points yeah, conversely you could say it hasn't really changed that much. in 1978 it was about 10L per person and in 2017 it was 10.6L per person

Graph is on page 14.

I'd say, although avg consumption has remained the same, the number of out and out alcos is smaller. Less people drinking more etc. There weren't any tee totalers in 1978.

farmchoice

cgcsb wrote: »

https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/5263/1/1255-1014_National_Alcohol_Policy.pdf

When you pick out two extreme data points yeah, conversely you could say it hasn't really changed that much. in 1978 it was about 10L per person and in 2017 it was 10.6L per person

Graph is on page 14.

I'd say, although avg consumption has remained the same, the number of out and out alcos is smaller. Less people drinking more etc. There weren't any tee totalers in 1978.

small point but there were a huge number of teetotalers in 1978 as the pioneer organization was huge. Ireland always had one of the highest number of teetotalers of any country in Europe.
so much so it meant that the ave amount consumed quite dramatically under estimated the amount that drinkers were drinking.


in the 50's as many as 1 in 3 Irish people were pioneers.

Mena Mitty

Ash.J.Williams wrote: »

Don't get your wranglers in a twist

Back in the day we stepped out in nothing less than a pair of 'Dingo' jeans...they were the job, but you hoped it wouldn't rain ' cause you'd have blue legs, underwear and other 'bits' of you, from the dye.

Mam of 4

Mena Mitty wrote: »

Back in the day we stepped out in nothing less than a pair of 'Dingo' jeans...they were the job, but you hoped it wouldn't rain ' cause you'd have blue legs, underwear and other 'bits' of you, from the dye.

That reminds me of dyeing clothes too !
And bleaching the jeans , geez we were ahead of the trends really

bullpost

cgcsb wrote: »

https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/5263/1/1255-1014_National_Alcohol_Policy.pdf

When you pick out two extreme data points yeah, conversely you could say it hasn't really changed that much. in 1978 it was about 10L per person and in 2017 it was 10.6L per person

Graph is on page 14.

I'd say, although avg consumption has remained the same, the number of out and out alcos is smaller. Less people drinking more etc. There weren't any tee totalers in 1978.

And of course alcohol being supplemented by other drugs to a much greater degree these days.

James Brown

Marble wash. Never liked it, never got it.

Great to look back with rose tinted glasses but it was nightmare times for a lot of people with the government turning a blind eye to a lot of things.

JupiterKid

freshpopcorn wrote: »

JupiterKid wrote: »

It was only about 1991 or 1992 when johnnies could be sold in pub toilet vending machines. Virgin Megastore in Dublin got into trouble for selling them around 1989 or so.

This country really was unbelievably backwards just a generation ago. We have since come a long, long way...

Sorry for asking you this JuipterKid but I thought you might know/remember.
What was it like just before they decriminlised homosexuality?
What were the debates like? Was it supported?
Don't answer if you don't want to.

The gay scene was tiny and semi-underground prior to the late 80s. But as I was only in my early teens in the late 80s I don't remember what it was like to be an Irish gay man back then. Dublin had 4 gay saunas in 1992 but only one bar: The George. Most gay guys and gals were firmly in the closet and many gay men in particular were trapped in loveless and sexless marriages.

Don’t really remember the debate just prior to decriminalisation in June 1993 by then Minister Maire Geoghegan-Quinn but I do know many senior politicians in both FF and FG were staunchly opposed to it - Dermot Ahern comes to mind - and of course the church were very against decriminalistion and also divorce, contraception, women’s rights, children’s rights etc. Labour since the 1970s were in support of social change and to this day many older LGBT voters are staunch Labour supporters.

The 1990s saw huge changes in attitues, especially after decriminalization in 1993. I came out in my final year of university - 1996/97. The more tolerant environment gave me the self-confidence to make the leap.

Things in every sense were on the up. The scene was still small but growing and the Pride marches got bigger and more colourful as the 90s progressed. A lot of people came out in the 1990s and 2000s.

Ireland was growing up and becoming much more tolerant. We had a LOT of catching up to do with the rest of the West.

JupiterKid

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

There you have it, both your parents had pretty secure jobs, whatever about being well-paid there was always a steady income coming into the house

For a lot of people it wasn't like that, at all.

Your earlier statement "I firmly believe that most people from Dublin have better memories" is true for some, definitely wrong for many, true for most? very debatable.

Dublin in the 70s/80s had some of the worst deprivation in Western Europe. Other parts of Dublin were quite well off, of course.

Agreed. As recently as 1986 it was estimated that nearly half of all children in Ireland (according to the OECD and ESRI) lived in consistent poverty. Poverty was widespread.

So was alcoholism. Many families had to endure the misery of an alcoholic head of household with the attendant violence, dysfunctional environment, unstable employment and thus money situation and necessities like food on the table or a second pair of shoes.

There was plenty of wealth in the country in the 1980s but a lot of the well to do moved in the same circles and it was very much who you knew over what you knew. Connections and networking and old boys’ clubs prevailed and it was very difficult to break into this golden circle if you were an outsider.

Corruption was widespread. The middle class was much smaller and more insular and the culture of achieving success based on merit was only starting to emerge.

NewbridgeIR

cgcsb wrote: »

All the things you have mentioned also existed then in just as large/larger proportions but it wasn't spoken of. IF someone killed themselves back then, quite common, it was recorded as 'an accident' and not spoken of again

Not much changed then.
Every suicide on Irish Rail's lines is disgracefully described as a "personal tragedy" or "incident".

yesto24

NewbridgeIR wrote: »

Not much changed then.
Every suicide on Irish Rail's lines is disgracefully described as a "personal tragedy" or "incident".

I could be wrong, but wasn't there something about not reporting suicides as it was found that reporting them as suicides led to an increase in suicides.
Pretty sure personal tragedy doesn't go on the death certificate.

Grandeeod

Us 70s/80s kids/teens have a much varied view of the time and that's okay. Some had a **** time and some had a nice enough time. So it wasn't all doom and gloom everywhere. Now I'm not trying to be some peace broker by any means, because you can never really solve the issues between rural Ireland, Dublin and places like Galway, Limerick, Cork and Waterford in relation to the time period.

Where Ireland really fell behind in a somewhat fooked up manner was infrastructure. We had a landline in a Dublin council estate in the early 80s and you had to ring the operator to connect to England. Digital exchanges were only being introduced. Took a few years to get it all going. Our road network was well below par, but little projects like the Naas bypass motorway, were big news for us. The 80s also delivered the initial DART service. Where the fook would we be today without it.

As for sport, the 80s really delivered the worst of times for Ireland. Whatever about Croke Park etc. the international sports of rugby and soccer highlighted our inabilities. While Landsdowne road built a new East stand and nearly kept up with our neighbours, some of our soccer internationals were held in diabolical conditions. In early '85 we brought Italy to Dalymount Park and it was disgraceful stuff. The pitch was worse than my back garden. The overcrowding and organisation was pure bad. An absolute clusterfook.

But all that said we managed to hold groundbreaking Eurovision Song Contests in 1982 and 1988. The Simmonscourt in the RDS gave us that and many many live concerts from major international acts. I often talk to my friends from Eastern Europe like Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia and compare the 80's there to the 80's in Ireland. Ireland was way ahead despite our doom and gloom perception and their soviet union restrictions. I guess the Irish adore self loathing and want to look at the recent past as being the start of any kind of past.

L1011

bullpost wrote: »

where are you getting your statistics from?

From Alcohol Ireland website :
"Alcohol consumption in Ireland almost trebled over four decades between 1960 (4.9 litres) and 2001 (14.3 litres)."

They still use 2001 figures when far newer ones exist because the consumption has fallen. When you take in to account Pioneers and women generally drinking far less to nil back in the 60s the figures are not rosy

AndrewJRenko

NewbridgeIR wrote: »

Not much changed then.
Every suicide on Irish Rail's lines is disgracefully described as a "personal tragedy" or "incident".

Would you expect the local station master to make a judgement on the spot as to the cause of a particular death?

NewbridgeIR

yesto24 wrote: »

I could be wrong, but wasn't there something about not reporting suicides as it was found that reporting them as suicides led to an increase in suicides.
Pretty sure personal tragedy doesn't go on the death certificate.

So on the one hand you have Darkness Into Light which has the aim of "raising awareness" and on the other, people who want to cover up suicide and sweep it under the carpet. A bit of a contradiction, no?

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

Would you expect the local station master to make a judgement on the spot as to the cause of a particular death?

Not necessarily - however it would be nice if the facts could be reported not some bullsh*t euphemisms.

ToddyDoody

When did sex become mainstream?

4ensic15

JupiterKid wrote: »

necessities like food on the table or a second pair of shoes.

.

A second pair of shoes? People were lucky to have shoes at all.

freshpopcorn

ToddyDoody wrote: »

When did sex become mainstream?

When Charlie Haughey met Terry Keane!

ToddyDoody

freshpopcorn wrote: »

When Charlie Haughey met Terry Keane!

And that was a saucy affair.

Was that before or after Ben Dunne got caught coked up with the hooker?