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- Business
- BreakingNews.ie
90% of Irish people worried about the daily cost of living due to price increases
More than 9 out of 10 Irish people are worried about the daily cost of living due to price increases, according to the findings of a major EU-wide survey published by the European Commission. The study also revealed that Irish people have the second highest level of concern about the future because of the affordability of housing. Advertisement They also have some of the lowest levels of satisfaction among EU citizens for access to quality childcare and healthcare. The Eurobarometer survey entitled Investing in Fairness assessed the attitudes of EU citizens on various aspects of fairness and social inclusion, including economic stability and quality of life. It found that 91 per cent of Irish respondents claimed they were worried about the future of their household due to the daily cost of living as a result of rising prices. It was the 9th highest rate among the 27 EU member states where 88 per cent overall were concerned about daily living costs. Advertisement Concern levels ranged from a low of 47 per cent in Denmark to 97 per cent in Portugal. Like most Europeans, Irish respondents also expressed concern about the reduced quality of public services, child poverty and housing affordability. Six out of 10 Irish people said they were worried about their ability to pay either rent or a mortgage, while a similar proportion said they were concerned they were not receiving a fair salary based on their skills and experience. The survey showed 92 per cent expressed worry about the affordability of housing with only Portugal having a higher rate than Ireland. The EU average was 82 per cent. Advertisement Ireland also recorded the 7th highest level of concern about the reduced quality of public services with 90 per cent worried about access to services like hospitals, childcare and schools. On a positive note, 39 per cent of Irish people said they were unconcerned about the quality of education in Ireland – the 6th highest rate and more than twice the EU average of 18 per cent. The Eurobarometer poll, which surveyed over 26,000 people across the EU, including over 1,000 in the Republic, also assessed the public's view on job satisfaction. It showed that Irish workers were less concerned that most Europeans that their skills were becoming less valuable because of digital changes in society. Advertisement The report also revealed that almost two-thirds of Irish workers (64 per cent) – the same figure as the EU average – are worried about the future because of a lack of job opportunities. Workers as well as unemployed people in Ireland emphasised the importance of training more than most Europeans with Irish citizens among the most willing to take part in training to develop their skills for using digital technologies in their daily work. Irish respondents were also among the strongest supporters of favouring programmes which would ensure young people had access to childcare, education, training and affordable housing. The European Commission said the report's findings would be instrumental in shaping policies and initiatives aimed at fostering a more inclusive and equitable society. Advertisement It claimed the high level of satisfaction found among EU citizens with their current job indicated a general contentment with employment conditions across the EU. Ireland recorded the joint 2nd highest job satisfaction rate together with Finland and the Netherlands at 93 per cent after Denmark, while the EU average was 85 per cent. However, the European Commission noted that only a narrow majority of Europeans were satisfied with access to quality healthcare and social services which demonstrated the need for more substantial efforts in these areas.
Irish Times
21-05-2025
- Irish Times
Aer Lingus launches first direct flight to Cancún
Sunseekers can beat the January blues next year as Aer Lingus launches its first direct flights to Cancún, Mexico's Caribbean resort. The airline confirmed on Wednesday that it would begin flying direct to Cancún, long popular with Irish people, three times a week from January 2026. The destination on Mexico's east coast is known for its beaches, tropical climate, food and sights that include ruined Mayan cities. Lynne Embleton, the airline's chief executive, said Mexico offered the new destinations and winter sun sought by many Irish people. READ MORE
Irish Times
07-05-2025
- Irish Times
Emigration is a big, frightening way of learning you are capable of change
Many Irish people seem to harbour a conception of their potential Australian life, whether or not they ever emigrate. I only really realised this after moving to Australia myself, visiting home and watching faces mist over at the mention of this vast country on the other side of the world. 'Ah, Australia!' people would intone breathily, eyes softening as they retreated briefly into some corner of their mind where they appear to have a ready-made set of fantasies about what it might be like to live here. That or they would immediately start talking about big spiders (I moved here in August 2023 and I haven't seen one yet, but I'll keep you posted). The reaction when you tell Irish people you live in Australia tends to be either wistful or begrudging with little in between. On hearing I live here (and I did only tell him because he asked), one man became mildly irate and said that the swimming at Sandycove is just as good as in Sydney, and without any sharks. I was confused because nobody had mentioned the sea, I live inland and have a pretty intense phobia of sharks, but I left him to irately work what felt like a historic disagreement out with himself. While I was lucky to end up in Australia by accident and through absolutely no merit of my own – happening to be married to someone who was offered a job over here – it had never been part of the plan. Not being big on sun or outdoor sports or the ocean, or wildlife that can kill you, I hadn't nursed any fantasy of a secret Australian life. There was no mental image of a more tanned, physically fitter, less stressed Australian immigrant version of me living in the back of my head while my hair fuzzed up and my thermal socks chafed in the whirling, misty damp of a Dublin or London commute. [ The challenges of moving to another country Opens in new window ] Yet, the opportunity to move so far from home and experience a different way of life seemed too interesting to pass up. When we talked about what emigrating would mean, there were plenty of negatives – practicalities such as the significant expense just to get to Australia and rent a place to live, horrendously complex and lengthy visa applications, arranging the logistics of the move, not to mention leaving family and friends behind. READ MORE But we also quickly realised that we had no good reason not to leave London, where we'd been living for six years, and where the cost of living had crept up each year without income following suit, leaving us wondering what we were getting in exchange for long daily commutes and constantly escalating food, water and electricity bills. My work, too, had begun to feel a bit flat. I had been doing the same thing for a long time and started to feel that I wasn't giving it my best in the way I once had. It occurred to me that moving to a new country requires such a leap of faith and imagination that changing your job suddenly begins to feel much less intimidating. Emigration might primarily be a change of location, but it forces you to re-evaluate the entire landscape of your life. The decision to move to another country is a rare opportunity to stick your head over the parapet of routine and comforting familiarity to think about what it is that you would change if you could. While we are who we are wherever we go, we also respond to the environments we live and work in, and we change accordingly. Under a bullying boss, you can become ungenerous, disinterested and resentful. Working on a supportive team, you can become more compassionate, more innovative and better fun. We are different versions of ourselves depending on context. Some people move to a new country for a job, or education, or for a relationship. When you begin again somewhere new, you're presented with opportunities to reinvent yourself and change the aspects of your former behaviour or life that didn't serve you. You can detach from all the preconceived ideas that family might have of you and see yourself in new ways. You can make a career change. Here, I have somehow become a person who goes to the gym three or four times a week Before moving I had been balancing my other writing work with being a beauty editor. Australia was a chance to set that side of my work aside and focus on what I was more interested in doing. The lower cost of living here and more rigidly respected work-life balance allowed me to finally finish and publish my book , something that hadn't felt possible during my life in London and Dublin. We had tired of the mania of living and working in a big city like London. While I could never have imagined a version of my life away from a big city with all its culture and fluidity, moving to Canberra, where everything is slower, cheaper and less oversubscribed, has meant a more peaceful and content way of life. A new version of myself. I had been beating myself up in London for failing to exercise enough when I worked most days until after 10pm. Here, I have somehow become a person who goes to the gym three or four times a week because it's a 15-minute walk from my front door and I can stop working without guilt at six o'clock. While it's not the only way to change your life, and the swimming in Sandycove is indeed lovely (in case that angry guy is reading), emigration is one big, rather frightening way of learning that we are resilient and capable of change, and there is something profoundly comforting in that. Sign up to The Irish Times Abroad newsletter for Irish-connected people around the world. Here you'll find readers' stories of their lives overseas, plus news, business, sports, opinion, culture and lifestyle journalism relevant to Irish people around the world If you live overseas and would like to share your experience with Irish Times Abroad, you can use the form below, or email abroad@ with a little information about you and what you do. Thank you
