ciderpunk Posted May 6, 2006 Share Posted May 6, 2006 From the Irish Examiner; One third of Irish have trouble paying bills A new survey has revealed that over a third of Irish people have trouble paying their bills. The EU study claimed that 37 per cent of us have difficulty meeting our debts at the end of the month. This is one of the highest levels in Europe, despite the fact that we are the second richest country in the EU. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Bear Posted May 6, 2006 Share Posted May 6, 2006 DIrect link Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinny Posted May 6, 2006 Share Posted May 6, 2006 Interesting article. One error perhaps????:(Is English the official Irish language)? "But the survey, carried out for the European Commission, showed that few (13%) Irish even attempted to read anything in a foreign language in the past year, compared to 91% of the Luxembourgers" Either way, English is still a foreign language in my book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badlad1967 Posted May 6, 2006 Share Posted May 6, 2006 Interesting article. One error perhaps????:(Is English the official Irish language)? "But the survey, carried out for the European Commission, showed that few (13%) Irish even attempted to read anything in a foreign language in the past year, compared to 91% of the Luxembourgers" Either way, English is still a foreign language in my book. English is the 2nd official language of Ireland. Irish is the first official language eventhough it is spoken by less than a third of the people.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinny Posted May 6, 2006 Share Posted May 6, 2006 English is the 2nd official language of Ireland. Irish is the first official language eventhough it is spoken by less than a third of the people.... Cheers, cleared that one up then!!!!!! What's the third official language then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Bear Posted May 6, 2006 Share Posted May 6, 2006 Cheers, cleared that one up then!!!!!! What's the third official language then? Irish and English are the two official languages spoken in Ireland. In practice the everyday use of the Irish language is limited to some peripheral communities. Though in recent years there has been an increase of Irish-only speaking schools in urban areas, chiefly because of perceived better education standards and motivation of the teachers. i.e. Skangers (chavs) don't send their kids there. There are two debates going on in Ireland regarding the language. The first is whether we should try to save it and the second is how we should go about it. More people can speak Russian in Ireland today than Irish, so it is with the greatest of irony, a Russian woman told me the local kids (Dublin, North Inner City) used to copy her daughter's Irish homework. The girl had only been in Ireland 5 years and was sitting her Leaving Certificate exam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pobby Posted May 6, 2006 Share Posted May 6, 2006 One third of Irish have trouble paying bills No wonder when they are banging out ex council housing in Dublin for 500k euro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuyingBear Posted May 6, 2006 Share Posted May 6, 2006 Either way, English is still a foreign language in my book. I often encounter people speaking 'foreign' English, it rather depends how drunk they are Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flash Posted May 7, 2006 Share Posted May 7, 2006 It is absolutely no surprise that one third of Irish have problems paying the bills. The whole country is on a borrowing binge and pretending to be rich. We will have at least four more interest rate rises in this cycle, which will add around 350Euro per month to the average monthly mortgage payment in Dublin. I wonder what proportion of the population will be struggling then. Perhaps someone can explain how the article can claim that "Ireland is the second richest nation in the EU" when it is most indebted in the EU per capita? It is just another example of the complete denial this country is in. People are up to their necks in the property game (almost every other person I meet from Taxi Drivers to Civil Servants to Garda has a property portfolio) and have taken on masses of debt to support it. Ireland is in complete denial. I know the article below has been posted before but it shows very well just how serious this situation is. http://www.davidmcwilliams.ie/Articles/vie...=&ArticleID=344 Let’s examine the figures. Private sector credit, which is how much we are all borrowing, stood at €240 billion at the end of 2005.Our total GDP was €135 billion. This means that borrowings are now running at 180 per cent of our income.So for every €100 we earn, we are borrowing €180.This is the highest level in the world and, as it is growing at 30 per cent per annum (or about €55 billion), it is also growing the fastest. Think about this for a moment. Borrowing will grow by €55 billion this year. That figure is 42 per cent of our total national income. There is no historical precedent for this type of borrowing anywhere in the world at any stage in economic history. Ireland is truly in uncharted territory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duplex Posted May 7, 2006 Share Posted May 7, 2006 The FT did a piece on the Irish economy last week. They interviewed an investment banker who said "Ireland may be the next domino to fall" I get the impression that most informed people are aware that a day of reckoning lies ahead, the sheeple, well they remain clueless; which I believe is how these things are intended to pan out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Bear Posted May 7, 2006 Share Posted May 7, 2006 Bank of Ireland says nearly half of its first-time buyers are opting for 35-year mortgages, compared with just 25% in 2004 and a paltry 4% in 2000. Ireland: Comment: Jill Kerby: RTE builds property frenzy to new heights http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,...2168054,00.html From the letters page... Ireland: Serious illness will not prevent you getting mortgage http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,...2168055,00.html Consider remortgaging Better again, it may be possible to shift all your personal debt onto your mortgage rate. “It is an obvious solution to help short-term cash flow so long as someone doesn’t keep going back to remortgaging and looking to use it as an ATM,” said Brian Culliton of Forest Hill Financial Planning, an authorised adviser Ireland: How to stop debts from crushing you http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,...2168051,00.html Lets blame the world cup for ECB interest rises....... According to Austin Hughes, chief economist at IIB Bank, there is a possibility that a further rise in oil prices and World Cup-induced inflation in Germany could push this figure to 2.6 per cent over the summer, meaning ‘‘ECB council members and euro-area interest rate markets could face a hotter summer than is now expected’’. Slow squeeze on borrowing begins http://www.sbpost.ie/post/pages/p/story.as...4026-qqqx=1.asp Overstretched on your mortgage, lets throw rising energy prices into the mix DOMESTIC gas prices could soar by as much as 40% next winter. This would be the largest annual increase on record, pushing the average gas bill up by €378 a year to more than €1,320. Gas prices rising by up to 40% http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,...2168740,00.html No need to ask for directions at this stage, the slaugherhouse is dead ahead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the end is a bit nigher Posted May 7, 2006 Share Posted May 7, 2006 (edited) From the Irish Examiner; on what basis did the irish get to be the second richest country in the eu? Edited May 7, 2006 by the end is nigh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Realistbear Posted May 7, 2006 Share Posted May 7, 2006 on what basis did the irish get to be the second richest country in the eu? The value of homes is opinion whereas debt is real. IR is rich because their homes are "worth" more than anyone else's and the more a house is "worth" the more MEW that is possible. In a world where house values only rise and rise exponentially this is good news. But then we don't live in a world of financial miracles but of economic cycles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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