Why No One Wants To Live in Europe's Richest Country 

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I tried 3 times to settle in Ireland in 3 different cities and towns. I had good jobs, but simply could not afford to rent anywhere sensible. Ended up in house shares. Litterally I'd go to see somewhere and there would be 10 others looking at same room, in some grotty house. It's a scandal. I gave up, moved to France, now I have a lovely apartment in the middle of Lyon with large balcony, under ground garage, on a tree lined avenue, for half he price of a crap hole in Ireland.

A billionaire walks into a bar. The average income of everyone in the bar multiplies tenfold. No one is better off.

I left when I was 28.... breaks my heart going home and seeing how expensive it is .... its shocking. The politicians do nothing and line their pockets. I love my people and they deserve better.

as an irish person this guy hit the nail on the head, regular irish people are really struggling, its near impossible to find somewhere to live even if you can afford the extortionate prices, i myself am a college student and there is a surprising amount of students that are homeless, sleeping on couches or living in emergency housing, all this happens while the government fail to build new houses but never forget to give themselves pay rises every couple years. Last year alone i think the housing committee failed to spend a million euro of their budget, how does that happen during a housing crisis?

A country is not rich/wealthy, if it's people are poor. Simple!

I'm Irish and wasn't even aware the country is perceived as wealthy. I just know the reality where the majority of the people here are struggling and our government is only making it worse.

Left Ireland in 2017. Grew up there. But was spreading more than half my take home pay a month on rent. You couldn't really save toward anything. Felt trapped. Moved to the Netherlands. And had immediate improvement in quality of life. I earned less money than I did in Ireland. But I had more money to spend. In 2018 I moved to the UK and was amazed to find how much better off the UK was. How much cheaper every is. I never dreamt of owning a home in Ireland. But in the UK I can.

South American living in Ireland here. There's so much potential for this country, but the housing crisis and the socioeconomic issues that affect the young and old alike are really depressing. I see them struggling in the following years.

I'm Irish and in my 70's. Back in the 80's and 90's, while we were not wealthy, people who had an average wage could at least afford a house and rear a family. That is no longer possible. I really feel for my children and grandchildren's futures.

"Why No One Wants To Live in Europe's Richest Country", the answer is, people do want to live there but there are no houses. Not just affordable, but almost any houses. You can make a ton of money working for tech in Dublin but it doesn't really matter if housing takes it all away.

I moved to Ireland in my teens. I’m from a wealthy family which is in the property business. One of the reasons we moved to Ireland was because the yield on rent here is much higher than elsewhere. For example in Germany, in a big city you can expect to pay around €300.000 for a small apartment and get 7-900€ rent every month. In Ireland on the other hand, you can buy a house for around €150.000 (not in Dublin of course) and rent it out for €1000-1200 monthly. So investing €300.000 in Ireland will get you a monthly rent income of up to €2400 as opposed to less than half for example in Germany. The reality of it is that the people who have to pay these rents are seriously hard done by. Irelands housing concept is ridiculous. It is extremely difficult to get the permission to build apartment buildings, that is true, while you find sprawling suburb estates with endless rows of identical looking houses, literally mazes, all of which could have been condensed into apartment buildings. Of course, these houses are far more expensive than apartments, and people even with a decent income cannot afford to buy or rent them. So as explained in the video, working professionals are often forced to move into terrible shared houses, which usually have a disgusting standard (I’ve seen houses with no heating, black mould, and furniture literally from the dump) when everywhere else in Europe they could afford a nice decent apartment. When I started managing my first property, I decided to make it a shared accommodation primarily for students. This was in a mid sized Irish university town on the west coast. Nice house, we had spend a good amount of money renovating it. I had three rooms to rent out, and in the first 24 hours we had over 90 enquiries. There were dozens of people at the viewings, and only about half of them students, the rest working professionals. I had people crying at the viewing, telling me they will be homeless if they don’t get this place, one came in a car he clearly lived in. It was a heartbreaking disaster. Ireland has failed its people miserably

I came to ireland for my partner who is irish, and started to work at a big tech company. All the revenue i bring in is not for ireland but for other european countries like France, Italy, Netherlands & Belgium. i thought moving from here to ireland would be not this expensive but renting is insane, there are no rules or regulations on what the rent prices are. i got very lucky with finding an apartment in a very nice area for not that much money (dublin terms) . What maybe frustrates me the most is the horrible road systems, and public transport, and not only that but all the jobs are located in big cities, so even when u live further outside of the city u have to travel which is horrible. I really hope that stuff changes because its a huge mess.

I'm Irish and the state of the country is infuriating. Lots of politicians are landlords so make a lot of money through property rentals, meaning there is no incentive for them to actually tackle the housing crisis.

I live in Dublin from 2007 to 2013 and through the 2008 financial crisis. I was working for Google at the time. We were definitely paid well, compared to many of the locals and you had a sense that you were doing better than most others at the time. I thoroughly enjoyed living there and the people. It was just the weather that I couldn't handle and the fact that the country in many ways still feels quite poor, the lack of infrastructure the sub-standard housing and certain ghettos with kids out of control etc.. I've never been a huge fan of the idea of running an economy as a massive tax shelter for large corporations. I think it hollows out the working class.

I'm Irish, and I left there 6 years ago. I am glad every day that I did.

I live in Ireland and visited Dublin city recently. What a kip the approach to it is. I'd be highly embarrassed if I was in government or local authority there. On my previous visit with friends who are from another country, there were used needles, smashed beer bottles and lots of litter on streets. I waited 10 hours in A&E a couple of years ago. It takes weeks to get a GP appointment these days. €60 a visit. I live close to a county town and every single GP surgery has closed it's books to new patient registrations. Waiting for a driving test is taking far too long. It just goes on.

As an Irish man i can't believe what has happened our beautiful little nation. We were happier with less. Everything was better. Its extremely hard to believe that Ireland is the richest country in the EU. It makes absolutely no sense. The poverty , homelessness, housing crisis and many other problems. It doesn't take much for irish people to feel happy we live off helping eachother and our compassion for one abother not our wealth as none of us ever had it. We are happier with less. I think that goes for most of humanity.

Great video. I am irish and live on the island. I run a small business here and it's tough to meet all the financial demands. It's tough when the government portrays a narrative that we are all doing well. 2 tier society. Multinationals corporations, government, civil servants, As the RULERS And then theirs the rest of us used against each other, to be divided and conquered. They rulers create a problem and then blame the citizens for it .

I left Ireland 18 years ago, I have friends earning similar money now to what I was earning then. My sister and her husband work full time and are raising two kids and have to budget every penny, a holiday is not always possible. Ireland is absolutely a difficult place to get ahead.

Having lived in Ireland for the past decade, I can confidently say that it may not be the best place for everyone. The cost of living can be quite high, and the weather can leave something to be desired. Additionally, there may be concerns surrounding border control. However, it's worth noting that everyone has their own unique experiences and opinions. While Ireland may not be the ideal location for some, others may find it to be a wonderful place to call home. Ultimately, it's important to weigh the pros and cons and make a decision that's best for you.

I’m Irish and have lived here my whole life and your video hits the nail on the head. Housing, health and infrastructure are appallingly bad for a so called rich country.

I read a statistic last year and I was amazed at how 'wealthy' Ireland was. I visit Eire on a regular basis, and I couldn't quite get my head around the wealth on paper vs. the wealth on the street. This video hits the nail on the head. Naturally the Irish Government will deny all this, as admitting failure would be like admitting mistakes in their economic manifesto.

Bringing in American companies who don't want to pay taxes and the Irish government allowing them to park up in the country, then these same countries importing their own workers. I'm no economist but it's like inviting a family to live in your home rent free while you live in the box room and also pay for their utility bills. Surely a 3 year old could calculate the absurdity of that.

Reluctantly moved back to Ireland at the start of this year after living in Canada for 12 years to be with family and find it to be a deeply depressing place. Health care sucks. Although I love Irish people most are just miserable due to how life beats them down here.

Irish person here, 26 years old, can confirm most of my mates have left the country , mate was paying 1200 euro a month for a shared house in Dublin with a freezing property, emigrated to Melbourne to share with one of his other mates living out there working out to 1000 per month in Melbourne city centre in an apartment over AC Merriot hotel with cleaning and washing facilities included and a standard of care, Ireland may be rich, but it’s not a place for young people, it is just depressing

I live in Ireland and the housing situation is horrible here. You can forget living alone or living comfortable. Saying that the houses are poorly made is an understatement. Also for the price of a room here you could rent a whole apartment in Germany!!! Not to mention cheaper countries. I am planning to move myself. The quality of life is extremely poor.

Woah this video exactly tells what my aunt told me. My aunt used to live in ireland, (she still lives there and it’s been around 17 years but she’s going to move to another country now, even her sons don’t want to live in that country and prefer other EU countries) and I remember how often she used to tell about housing problems. She always had to change apartments and it was really hard to find any. Not to mention her Husband was a doctor and eventually he moved to another country for job as they paid a lot more than compared to what he was getting paid in Ireland. So what was said in this video is 100% true. Well spoken👏🏼

This video is spot on, only thing I would like to address, it says building permission are difficult, that's only applicable to the city centre because is very old but outside of Dublin they are building new proprieties everywhere. I have lived in many countries (US, Italy, Brazil, England, Slovakia); now I am in Ireland and is the least developed of them all; I am shocked how behind it is from the rest of Europe. Nature and coastline is incredible but that's all, otherwise is old and late.

I live in Ireland and want to live in Ireland. But most of the things you mentioned here are true, the housing situation is unbelievable and pathetic, the imbalance of salary structure and always rainy.

As Fintan OToole would say, the incompetence of the Irish government is an old tradition.

As an Irish citizen. VOTE FOR AFFORDABLE AND GOOD HOUSING FOR THE PEOPLE.

As an Irishman, this is a very accurate video. Currently I am 20 and I don't know a single person in my entire family or social circle who is staying, and why would we? Currently, we have about a third as many train lines as we had under the British Empire (the Irish government decided to rip most of them up to build motorways and as such Ireland is almost as car-dependant as the US), moreover, we have the highest cost of cars in europe along with the most expensive car insurance on Earth. Also, currently, to afford the absolute cheapest houses in Ireland, someone has to earn at least €150,000, which puts them in the top 1% of earners. Ireland is a highly corrupt country and the general consensus is that it is still highly undeveloped. I could mention a lot more (such as our failed judicial, medical, social, educational, governmental, banking, retail, industrial, residential, municipal, cultural, etc institutions), but sufficed to say, Ireland is by far the least developed country in the OECD and is the least developed country in western Europe, frankly, many more impoverished countries are in a significantly better state than Ireland. Do not believe the lie that we are in any way a first world country.

I'm Polish and I'm one of these people who moved to Ireland to work in big tech. Before accepting the job, I've never been to Ireland. You can imagine my surprise when I've arrived in Dublin and realized that the infrastructure of the capital of the wealthiest country in Europe is pretty subpar even compared to the regional city I studied in in Poland, not to mention Warsaw. I was particularly shocked at the quality of housing and public transportation. Housing is very expensive but even if it wasn't, it's also just really, really bad (cold, often moldy, with no insulation). Then comes public transportation. Dublin is definitely not made for cars (not even a single boulevard in a city of over 1 million people), yet the public transportation is also very lacking. At that time, the Luas lines were still disconnected and I was just amused to find out that the official guidance for transferring from one line to another is to just walk :D I loved the Irish people, though. Such a great bunch of folks, with their amazing songs and pub culture. And the landscapes in the west of the country are truly breathtaking. I've since moved to America but will always remember Irish people fondly.

I'm Irish. The "7 out of 10" quote isn't a once-off statistic: emigration has been expected, almost encouraged, for centuries. Out of 10 friends I've kept in contact with the longest, 6 live outside of Ireland and 3 left Dublin due to the cost of living/housing. Within my wider family, it would be around half have emigrated (some coming back after a while building a career elsewhere) Similar to the housing bubble crash in 2008( based on skimming slivers of profit off the top of a wider service industry), the current tax haven economic approach has little positive impact on Irish people, only clarifying sharp class distinction, enforcing further resistance to change (even if necessary, like attitude to housing and public transport). Without a doubt, it will inevitably lead to another crushing collapse.

One of the biggest problems here in Ireland is that this guys has talked more about the core issues in Ireland than the government has in thee last year they are completely useless, Im glad someone is talking about what is so obvious to me here that im pretty much shocked it never gets talked about not even the people know why we are failing because they just quietly dont talk about it anywhere.

Living in Ireland over a decade now. I was able to buy a house 100kms south of Dublin 6 years ago, if it wasn't for that for sure I would't be here now, we couldn't aford the rent. The situation is really THAT BAD folks!!!

It is more than possible,just because a country is making lots of money does not mean that the people living there are sharing that money,quite the opposite.Victorian Britain was rich,but a very large part of the population was living in abject poverty,read some books on it

I work as a programmer and even my 55k a year salary would never allow me to live a deserved, comfotable life in Ireland. Renting is extortionate, buying a house is almost impossible, weekly living costs is through the roof. Ireland is badly managed country from a goverenment that has little care for the improvment of our beautiful island

I live in Ireland. im only 12, but I was born and raised here, it's a beautiful nation, and its called the emerald isle for a reason. However, It is really dangerous. when its dark, you cant walk anywhere by yourself without the fear of getting jumped. Every time I hear the radio, there is almost always stories about people who got shot or stabbed or even beat to death. I'm not sure how it is in other counties, but I'm talking about dublin. Yes, I'm little compared to a lot of people, but I understand many things. The gas and electricity bills are rising insanely high. There have been many, MANY protests about the cost of living crisis, but the government does nothing. I'm genuinely scared for the future of this country.

The wages are actually pretty good in Ireland but the housing situation is a reason to never move here. I was paying 800 a month including bills for a 1 bed apartment in Dublin 7 years ago while on 35k a year and was able to save for a house which I bought this year . Fast forward that apartment is now 1.8k a month and the wages are literally the exact same . I never would have been able to buy a house here if I was born 7 years later it’s shocking .

Very true, I live in Ireland and have been trying to explain this for years to deaf ears, I'm fortunate to have bought my home before the Celtic Tiger, and although my professional adult children all have better-paid jobs than I do, they see no future here because of the high cost of living and two out of four are already living abroad with another one following. I will also be retiring to Northern Spain later this year where my pension portfolio will go a lot further.

In other words, Ireland is a corporate money launderer. A lot of money flows through the country, but not much stays. It is an illustration of the contrast between riches and wealth -- having a lot of money does not necessarily make you wealthy. It is a lesson all too many lottery winners have learned.

Living in Ireland for the last 10 years and this video is spot on! I'm lucky to rent an apartment alone but the vast majority of people need to share (sometimes up to 10+ people in a single property)! Seriously thinking about leaving, as 80m² property starts at 400k, not to mention that its 50 years old if not more.

Im Irish born and bred, I’m currently renting a property at a modest price compared to what I was paying before I live comfortably as me and my partner have decent enough jobs but we have no option to save for anything and when I say modest I say that in comparison to other pricing I’ve seen for places to rent, in the renting market private landlords do not benefit at all as their taxed 52% on any properties they rent so they bump the price to try and recover that money, It’s the multinational corporations that are getting away with murder with rental properties as they pay much less tax on properties but keep the pricing high. And don’t even get me started on the cost of living in the rip off republic, diesel was just below €1.50 last month and now I’ve seen it at €1.80 to €1.90 per litre in certain places. We are getting fleeced by the government from every angle. We have oil and gas reserves of our coast that the government “Sold” to private companies and we import our oil from elsewhere if I could go on and on with this but I’d exhaust myself. Op thanks for the great video.

Went to Dublin a few months ago. Was fairly shocked by the lack of infrastructure - public transport a decade out of date, lots of cash changing hands, city centre seemed a bit rough around the edges compared to other major cities. Prices of housing and general cost of living was very high too, so not sure where the money goes?

Been here fifteen years. Mismanagement is an understatement. There's so much potential but incompetent politicians ruined it all. They say Ireland is least corrupt, but that's not true.

Ireland is not rich. It is the multinational corporations that are based here that make the GDP output in takes appear wealthy. There is alot of inequality between those that have property and those that don't . So think first about what you are reporting before you judge my country.

Recently, several of my friends moved to Canada simply for better lives. In the words of my mother (who was forced to emigrate to London in the 80's:) "What's changed? Things aren't as unstable now, but life is the same. Your friends are all emigrating abroad because they have no choice, just like we did 40 years ago." It's heartbreaking knowing that eventually, I'll be forced to do the same. There's simply nothing here for us right now

Crazy how most modern economies are struggling with housing problem

it is like here in Tunisia. Officially we have 40 percent of our GDP from industry but in reality most of it is just big corps producing low added values stuff here and not local companies.

I've lived in Ireland since 1997. I love this country and growing up in the countryside was a really safe and wholesome experience. The experience for my own children is a world away from my experience. The cost of living is utter hell. There isn't an area of life that isn't impacted. High rents, car insurance, fuel prices, extortionate childcare prices with too few available placements which results in unregulated private childcare, food prices are high, housing is non-existent and those that are available have queues for miles to view them. Our transport infrastructure is terrible. Ireland is mainly rural but we have few reliable buses and affordable transport options. School costs are crazy, getting kids back to school in September is pure heartache. The health care system is practically non-existent. Running on the bare minimum staff levels, A&E can have you waiting in triage for days, waiting lists are crazy and trying to book a GP visit can take weeks. Our elderly are forgotten and people with disabilities are not supported in any way, not to mention the lack of funding for community day care services and special needs assistants. Pair all this with low wages and it makes for quite the miserable living experience. I hope Ireland recovers at some stage. We've all worked hard for our country with nothing in return.

I was in one of the hospitals in greater Manchester and i met a wonderful kind young irish nurse who told me how difficult it was living in ireland and how uk provided her more choice in her nursing career

As soon as you mentioned tech companies such as Microsoft invading Ireland, I immediately knew the next thing you were talking about was going to be something to do with a housing crisis. I live in Seattle, where Microsoft is from. Also, when Amazon came to Seattle, rents began skyrocketing and crime increased, and homelessness increased. I have a theory that many of the apartments and housing are being given to the tech employees and the building owners are probably getting a huge payday out of it to make sure that the tech workers have homes -- at the expense of the country folk.

As an Irish’s person I can confirm everything in this video is unfortunately very true.we are not rich ,we are not prosperous we are on our knees with no future no chance of buying a house or moving out of our parents houses .no wonder everyone young wants to leave 😏

This is a very accurate video of my own experience. Thank you.

As someone in their early 20s living in Ireland, what I tend to see with people I know is them taking advantage of the good job opportunities in the country but still living with their parents since the housing prices prevents young people living on their own, especially with college (I would know, I'm doing the same 😂)

I am one of those young people who has recently left the country. 4 friends, my twin brother and myself all now live and work in Berlin. My gross salary in Berlin is 25% higher for essentially the same work - however after taxes come out to roughly the same net. However, the cost of living in Ireland is the real crux. Going out eating and drinking is half the price here, as it rent. Public transport is abundant and 49euro per month for the entire country at the moment. I lived in my family home in Bray, and could have theoretically rented a room in a houseshare - though to the detriment of everything else. Ireland minimum wage is less than Germanys €12 an hour. Its just far too unappealing to live in Ireland at the moment. That said, I do see myself moving back in the Future as I don't think there's anywhere else I'd rather live the rest of my life.

Income doesn't equate to wealth distribution. I discovered in the 1980's when working for a major international company in the City of London when, after a particularly very successful year, it was presented by the chief at a board meeting, a pot of money (figuratively speaking) in the middle of the table for departmental distribution for salaries for the year ahead. Each of the heads took a makor chunk for themselves leaving the rest for the hoi polloi. Today, we see it everywhere.

I live in Ireland and I can confirm you are spot on! The inept government is responsible for most of the problems

We stayed in Ireland in 2001 til 2003 during the Celtic Tiger era. We rented an apartment from an Irish man who was a bank manager. He lived in a big house and had two apartments he rented out. He told us he was able to buy repossessed properties at a reduced price. I was quite shocked at his greediness on the back of other people's misfortune.

Irish citizen here 40yo male. The infrastructure is below par. The health care system is a joke they have run the public health care into the ground to the point where you just need to go private. Also our national debt per capita is huge post bank bail out in 2008. A lot of our problems come with transport, infrastructure, healthcare come from myopic government policies with 5/10 year plans when they need to be 50/100 year plans.

I moved in Ireland more than one year ago, attracted by job opportunities. The thing is that’s all they have and apart from that the quality of life is terrible, for more than one reason. If it’s true that you can have a very high salary working for multinational companies, this comes with a very high cost of living. Most of the time you won’t be able to live by yourself since rentals are insane, especially considering that houses here are awful. I pay 1600 euro to live in a small town 40 minutes by car from Cork, the same as Milan (I am italian). 300 less than a rent in Zurich, without getting a Swiss salary. Fortunately I live with my partner so we split expenses in two, but if I would have been alone I barely could afford to live alone. That’s why so many people share the apartment, which is not the best, especially when you pass 30s. Public services are terrible, so many time the bus doesn’t come and the next one is in one hour. They don’t even have shelters to protect yourself from rain when it’s the rainiest place in the world. Also you don’t have activities to do, because the weather doesn’t allow you to really plan anything outside and the only thing you can do here is going for a pint. Since we’re talking about an Island anytime you want to visite another country you must take a flight, when there are no many connections and every movement takes you an entire day. If it’s true that Irish people are very welcoming you will never be able to be their friend. They will never invite you out for a beer. To wrap up, I am grateful to Ireland for the job opportunities, but apart from that I have nothing. I didn’t even get the chance to choose my place to live, I got one interview in 3 months and I accepted. Fortunately my house is in good conditions, but my first one was the dirties thing I’ve ever seen in my whole life and it was rent for almost 2000 per month. Rental situation is criminal, once I saw a garage with a bed in it be rented for 1000. Insane.

I left Ireland and moved to Germany in 2020. I almost doubled my wage in just the move alone, and since then I have climbed the ladder and earn almost 3X what my wage was in Ireland in 2019. I must also admit, work here is way more laid back than it was in Ireland, and I have way more rights. - I don't have limited sick days (in Ireland you get 3, after that they stop paying you... so try not to get too sick). - I get 30 paid days off a year (in Ireland that was 20, and 4 of them HAD to be allocated to Christmas time at the companies choice). - There are also more bank holidays here. In Ireland, if things got quiet at work, the company could send us home without pay, starting from the very first hour we were not able to clock on to a "job" (yeah, we had to log and clock every hour of everything we did). Here in Germany, we don't clock anything, just turn up for a bit and do approximately 8 hours work each day, give or take. Go for a coffee break when we fancy, do a bit, tip away... Oh! Time for another coffee break again! No need to be a soldier! If the company can't afford to pay us, they shouldn't have employed us. They have an agreement with the government to keep full-time employees in gainful employment, and to suddenly stop paying people just because they have an unorganized workflow would be completely illegal. But that's not all. Things are cheaper in Germany. Rent is cheaper, food and drink is cheaper. To recap: In Ireland wages are low, work is hard, goods cost more. The high GDP is a complete and utter scam, If you want to see how a countries wealth really might reflect on your quality of life, look into GNI instead. Ireland benefits greatly from basically having one city reflect the majority of the population. It's pretty easy to make a house look tidy if you only ever show your guests one room. Basically, Ireland is a big sock puppet for the politicians to stick their hand in the arse of and come out smelling like roses at the expense of the population. And the most annoying thing? Irish people will read this, and instead of realizing they are getting screwed, they'll instead leave resentful smart comments like "good riddance". The people allow this type of thing to happen to themselves through their own ignorance, stubbornness and "ah shar" attitude, unfortunately.

In addition to those issues mentioned in the video, one of the problems that the two-tier economy has produced is an inability for the government to provide basic infrastructure for communities like leisure centres, etc. some numbers to highlight this…a single leisure centre was built during the Celtic Tiger era at a cost of €36m. Construction costs currently exceed those when the centre was built, and yet the government budget in 2019 for capital expenditure on such facilities across the country was only €5m. The number of communities without any leisure infrastructure is frightening, that in a country which does not have a particularly outdoor-friendly climate.

We have a solution to housing supply. We are an Irish startup. It is extraordinarily difficult to get started here, even though we can solve for supply. This video is reasonably accurate, especially in the final thought; we need to move from foreign direct investment to a model of supporting business creation from within, especially when those businesses have solutions to national scale problems.

Your drone shots are beautiful!!

Ireland is a country where the cost of living is similar to Norway but the wages and living standards are on par with Spain and Italy.

Ireland has replaced its dependence on the old absentee landlords from England with dependence on foreign multinationals. This is how Irish politicians counterfeited a genuine Irish economy. Instead of having a people economy, they have a paper economy.

I'm from Ireland myself, specifically Dublin. The housing crisis has been going on for years and never seems to end. It's a scandal really. I'm 36 and married and we were fortune to be able to buy an affordable house, it's modest and in the suburbs but it's also stability. The main issue I see is that the issues highlighted in this video don't affect everyone proportionally. There are many older and/or wealthier people who aren't struggling so are an unfortunate barrier to having much needed political change. We've basically had the same centre-right, neoliberal parties in power for over 100 years whereas other European countries have benefited from more centre-left governments resulting in better infrastructure. Until we have a centre-left government which makes hard decisions, nothing will change.

Thank you so much for raising this issue! From an Irish person who is losing many close friends to Emigration

I'm 25 years old, have a physics degree and work full time. Renting a shitty little studio apartment isn't even on the cards for me, never mind saving for a mortgage and starting a family. My entire life is focused on building up enough money so I can leave to a real country that actually cares about its people, where a highly educated and hard working guy could make a life for himself. I'm in the exact same situation as friends I have from Lebanon and Turkey...

Very real, and welcome explanation

COVID restrictions destroyed my business, and in my self employment gig I was paying shitload of taxes. Moved to Bulgaria instead. 10% flat income tax rate and plenty of beautiful city centre apartments available. I really miss home but I couldn’t build a future there at this point in my life.

I live in the West of Ireland - and I work in tech. I make just enough to keep a roof over my head but crushed with exhorbidant rent, cost of living etc. I have no chance of ever owning my own home, and most of us are at the whim of greedy Landlords who charge ridiculous sums for little in return (I haven't had a working shower since 2020 and took a complaint to Residential Tenancies Board which were slow and incompetent and the issue is till unresolved.). I can't even afford to leave the country, as much as I want to. Problem here is given our history, we have the exact same class system as our former British ovelords with stupendously rich tax dodgers, and poorest of the poor. Our Government is inept, corrupt and we have nobody to replace them with. Even our own National Broadcasting service recently got caught up in a corruption scandal where they had been abusing Millions in taxpayer money, only for it to be swept under the rug.

I visited Ireland in 2006 and you could see society transforming at light speed. Even middle-aged people were gobsmacked as young Irish drove BMW SUVs to their hi-tech jobs. The entire service sector was made up of young Polish immigrants.

A. Ireland is not the richest country in Europe, the numbers are propped up by a few multinational companies that park their IP here(Apple) and B. If no-one wants to live here why is there a housing shortage?

Just to say; its not pronounced "Sell-tick", its pronounced "Kell-tick"

I've been in Ireland 23 years now. My salaray has not matched the inflation for at least 10 years. My rent has been increased again without getting nothing in return for the same property, because there is nowhere else to go. I have to consider myself lucky to pay the amount I pay. The public transport is a mess, infrastructure lacking everywhere, heatlh could be so much better. It is all for the rich and the greedy.

I moved to Ireland in 2012. I'm from Portugal and we were going through a crisis then. I had just qualified as a nurse and had no job prospects in my country. I moved here because the salary seemed good and I wanted to start a new life. Life has only gotten worse, because the cost of living have increased a lot while our salaries haven't... I am always surprised when I hear that Ireland is "rich". I don't see it. Quite the opposite actually! There is no investment in infrastructure, public services, health, education... it's all a farse, really! And I fear it will only get worse until it collapses.

Fun fact: The site where the photo of the Waterford tea and coffee van is about 200m from my house and i can see it out my bedroom window ❤

I'm living in Ireland for almost 2 years now ...i searched for an apartament to rent ... 3 months , and i found 2 bedroom one for 900euros / month 65Km away from Dublin :)))). Finding a space to live alone it's pretty difficult , when u finally find it , it's either an expensive dungeon , or too far from Dublin . if u dont mind sharing it then it's pretty easy to find but too expensive. A single room it's minimum 500e/ month . CRAZY!!

This video brings up valid points, and every country should always be able to recognise where it needs to improve. However, to counter balance it a little - as someone who left in the mid 80's, there is no comparison to what Ireland was then - the economic situation has improved immeasurably. Strive to improve, and don't take for granted the progress already made.

its nice to finally see someone who actually points out the problems with Ireland.

Insightful and accurate. I know it's a nit, but I found some of your pronunciations distracting. To improve the already good quality of your video production, I recommend learning which syllables get accented (e.g., for "success" and "economics", accent the second and third syllables, respectively).

Thank you for shedding light on this issue. I visited Dublin two years ago and I was shocked! I barely saw any Irish people; it was mostly Brazilians and east Africans milling about. No one appeared affluent or comfortable and it was but a few tears above some 3rd world capitals. Moreover there was a dearth of affordable/suitable lodging. One local Irishman remarked that Dublin is the only Capital in the world where are you will pay Ritz Carlton prices for a rundown studio apartment. If Ireland is truly a wealthy country, it is not at all apparent in the capital city.

Rent for one bed room apartment is 1600. Monthly income for a restaurant worker is 2300.

I have three children, late teens to young adults. All are now looking to leave Ireland to go to the UK for work and to buy a property. It is simply impossible for them to build a meaningful future here in Ireland as the housing situation is a disaster and the overall quality of life is poor! On average prices here - for everything- are around 48% higher than anywhere else in the EU!! The education system simply pushes everyone into the Universities - that's why drop out rates are enormous - and the apprenticeship system is still not properly functioning meaning a life for many of dull, low paid jobs and temporary contracts. Politicians can crow all day about GDP or GNI. It's all smoke and mirrors. For the ordinary person, life in Ireland is pretty dire and no chance of it getting better anytime soon!

Where is the best place to live in the EU? Genuine question as I’m planning to move after I’m finished with uni.

This video uses incorrect stats. You say the UK has an average wage of 53,985 7:35. In pounds or euros it is still wrong. The UK average wage as of 2023 is £32,000

There is also a massive drug problem in Dublin and the government has been unable to handle it in the 10 years I've been living here, it's quite depressing to walk in some parts of the city

I left Ireland in 2004 after graduating from university and now only go back for weddings and funerals. Of my college friends, the difference between those that stayed and those that went abroad with respect to where they are in life is pretty startling. A few who emigrated eventually moved back but only once they had earned enough to be able to live comfortably back in Ireland. From the sounds of this video nothing has changed.

I have been living in Ireland for the past 5 years and half and it is absolutely outrageous how things are getting more expensive here everyday and the system for everything such as Transport, Hospitals, Education is just getting worse . People still think it is normal to pay a ridiculous amount of time for rent to share a house sometimes with other 6 people. Let’s not even mention crime and drugs which gets worse day by day. Ireland is always trying to transmit a good impression of the country to the rest of the world but just who lives here knows the reality .

Interesting, thanks !

Ireland is my spiritual home. I had planned to move there from hot, dry, burnt Australia, then my daughter got cancer, so that dream is in limbo, like every aspect of our lives. The housing shortage worries me. A worldwide social problem, having been homeless and traumatised by the experience, I don't know how to ensure my family, in whatever form it exists, when our rental here finishes, will be able to find a home on the West Coast of Ireland.I have never really made a dream come true but am hanging onto this one, for dear life. It's why I named my daughter Erin.

Ireland needs a new generation of politicians - fast !

I'm Irish and live in Ireland and am really surprised to hear that Ireland is one of the wealthiest countries in Europe. I certainly don't see it or experience it. Luckily I own my own house but apart from that utility and other bills are expensive. Infrastructure is poor unfortunately.

has this been affected after the rte paying people under the table? i am irish but im an eejit with economics and all that stuff

The same problems are happening in Japan, South Korea, Singapore, NY, LA. The house/rent is too expensive to afford to average middle class workers, unless being high tech engineer, successful business man, or professions in medical field.

I'm Dutch, yet I want to move to Ireland, ever since the first time I visited. The nature is beautiful, the people are the nicest and most fun folk I've ever come across, God, they know how to have a good craic. I know there's hope yet as long as the Irish people keep the Irish spirit alive. I just wish there was a way to help from overseas. Can't do much about Irish politics from here...