Do you believe that we in Ireland are now richer than those in the UK?

UK only has better public infrastructure in London and a few other areas. And in many cases what they have is falling apart.

Lots of public buildings are of cheap 50s-70s construction and physically falling down (RAAC, modular construction system buildings etc). Roads and bridges are falling apart.

The cream always rises to the top. the cream is us. we will have even more of them coming over now for the better dole.

GDP is not a useful measure. But even after you adjust for its uselessness we are still somewhat ahead.

I don't think so yet but we are no longer visibly poorer.

To use an analogy, we are like a young couple who have two good jobs, well paid and just moved into our first family home. No mega mortgage as there was some equity in the starter home. Two cars, one new or almost new and the second one step up from a banger. We are no longer renting and using the bus. They however are an older couple of empty nesters, large 4 to 5 bed house, no mortgage, two quality cars, one income and pension coming soon. They have more capital and less living costs but earning potential is now turning negative.

Edit, as hit submit by accident: we are now in the same ballpark but they have the advantage accumulated capital. This won't last forever and we are constantly gaining ground due to generations of personal investment in education. Education is far more highly valued here than across the pond.

No, in Ireland's case it is not. It goes up by large amounts in normal years like 2015 and appears to decline in relatively good years like 2023. It is of very limited use.

I've heard it said the UK is on par with the poorest state in the US if you remove the city of London.

The city of London has wealth - true.

The rest is just economically depressed and absolutely horrible place to be.

Look at the headlines coming out of the UK and Ireland.

UK - budget deficit and financial black holes. There's a need to allow pensioners freeze to death.

Ireland - unprecedented surplus with massive windfalls from corporation tax. Billions from apple. Billions from multinationals. There's N a need to set up a sovereign wealth fund.

In my mind it's not even close. Ireland is way, way richer than the UK and the gap will continue to widen.

The numbers in numbers in this article give details on the unprecedented amount of wealth Ireland is accumulating. It really is incredible.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67058310

Always remember in the early 1990's how you'd cross the border up north and instantly you notice the change in quality of the roads. You go from bumpy to smooth after the checkpoints. I think a lot of their roads were redone around that time up there and everything was new and top quality and you could really feel that you were then somewhere that invested in road use way more than what we had

Move onto now and it's the complete opposite. None of them up there seem to have been redone since and you notice the drop in quality on the roads and signage when you cross over.

london maybe wealthy, a lot of it is dirty money from very questionable sources and parts of the world, tis feckin rotten

I don't live there anymore and I have seen plenty of other countries and how they operate …

Net result ... Ireland is run purely for profit now and the services are poor...

Since you decided to comment on my lack of a awareness of outside Ireland. I will also comment that maybe you are stuck in a bubble and think Ireland is advanced, when in fact it is not...

These are all stats based on comparing so called first world countries to other first world countries. Like a dick measuring contest when in fact, unless you pay handsomely you do not have access...

I struggled to get access to a GP last time I was there. Now my children get a full and complete health check every single year. Full dental care and easy access. Access to therapy services etc.. on very short notice.

If you think that rising house prices help young people, and the country in general , then you are deluded.

Rising house prices simply makes young people's lives a misery and old people's lives extremely comfortable. Young people need a stake in a country and access to housing in almost a number one priority.

I have just been having dinner on the patio of a beautiful house that the local government contributed 10.000 to the cost of construction. The entire property was built for 40.000.

The house has 3 bedrooms, it has a small beauty salon and the front and the family and children are the most relaxed and accommodating I have seen I a while.

They have a 2 minute walk to a large new shopping center with food courts, a cinema and a brand new state of the art chain gym.

I know enough to tell you, you are been hoodwinked by news articles telling you Ireland is rich

Ohhgg

That's not backing up your statement with fact, that's just going on a rant. There are housing problems in major cities all over the world.

Do you mind telling us where this is?

There's many metrics for this, but I'll use the case of the elderly widow on similar income/benefits in Ireland and England.

My neighbour is late 70's, widowed 20 years. Lives on state pension in a modest bungalow in rural Ireland and as far as I know has no other private pensions etc, was always a housewife. She has the means to own an 8 year old car. Doesn't struggle to pay the essential bills although doesn't stretch to private health insurance. Has plenty in the kitty for fuel in winter and even helps out her adult children from time to time with grandchild costs where she can. Up until her age became a factor she enjoyed one or two trips a year, one at home and one abroad (active retirement) It's by no means a lavish lifestyle but she's smart with money and lives relatively comfortably.

Similar aged widow in UK on state pension? Would she be able to buy tax and insure a reasonably modern car? Would she eat well, pay all her bills with ease and heat her home no problem. Would she be able to take a foreign trip? I seriously doubt it. For one thing she would need to set aside £170 for a tv licence!

The fact that our elderly and vulnerable citizens are that much better off here would suggest to me we are certainly "richer" as a society, in every sense.

Saying the electorate is not interested in fixing the housing crisis isn't necessarily true.

If voters feel FFG will build more homes than SF, then voting FFG is a vote for more housing and a vote to fix the crisis.

…but the reality is, this is very unlikely to happen under ffg, as theres a fundamental problem with their approach of financialisation of our markets, its highly likely we ll still be experiencing chronic housing problems into and throughout the 30's!

The other reason being that there was no feasible alternative on offer.

its disingenuous to say older generations got their houses for nothing, most worked their holes off to do so, but what they did get for little effort is rapid value inflation over their lifetime, which in turn has shafted younger generations, many being their own kids and grand kids

i could be argued many other states such as nordic ones, have much larger welfare states, with better access to health care for all, and much higher welfare payments, particularly for long term employed who happen to find themselves unemployed

ffg are primarily right leaning economically, hence why we re now heavily dependent on wealthier entities such as mnc's, and other major sectors such as investment sectors, for our needs

yes ffg have moved more so towards traditional left leaning policies such as marriage and abortion, which seems to be really upsetting traditional conservative voices, so much so, they have created rather pathetic language such as 'wokism', to express their distain!

Yeah, let’s use “feelings” as an argument in the face of stats and metrics. Makes sense.