Ireland is richer and spending more than 30 years ago but not happy about it

Anyone with even the most passing interest in music knows money can’t buy you love but new research published on Thursday makes it clear it can’t buy you peace of mind or optimism either. Irish consumers appear to be three times richer than they were 30 years ago and are spending twice as much as they did in 1996 but they’re more nervous and gloomy now than back when the Celtic Tiger was starting to purr. And they are far, far more miserable than in the halcyon days of 2000 when the nation’s optimism reached its zenith, a report marking 30 years of the Credit Union Consumer Sentiment Index suggests.The September 2026 consumer sentiment index, published by the credit unions in conjunction with Core Research, shows consumer confidence at 61.1, compared with an average over the 30 years the index has been running of 83. It is less than half of its 130.9 peak recorded at the turn of the millennium.READ MOREAs part of the expanded research, people were asked to reflect on what has become better or worse since 1996 and what they expected life in Ireland to look like in 2056.The research lays bare the consequences of living in interesting times with the combined impact of wars on terror, the economic crash, Brexit, a global pandemic, an environmental catastrophe barrelling down the tracks, seemingly endless cost-of-living and housing crises, war in Europe, war in the Middle East, the terrifying march of AI and a whole lot more taking its toll on how people view the world and their place in it. All told, 75 per cent said the cost of everyday living was worse than 30 years ago, with a similar percentage believing that buying a home was tougher. Just over half (54 per cent) said their capacity to save money had reduced, with a similar percentage saying the nation’s mental health and wellbeing had deteriorated and 51 per cent of the view that the sense of local community has weakened.In 1996, consumers in Ireland were experiencing a clear improvement in employment, incomes, migration and inflation following the trying times of the 1980s but today sentiment is affected by markedly higher living costs, infrastructure constraints and concerns about Ireland’s exposure to international policy changes against a backdrop of geopolitical instability and persistent economic shocks.The research illustrates how an overall increase in wealth in the past decade has not translated into notably stronger spending or a clear “feelgood” factor on the part of Irish consumers in marked contrast to the experience of the Celtic Tiger era, something that reflects psychological as well as financial scarring caused by the crash. Looking to the next 30 years, consumers were cautiously optimistic about some aspects of Ireland’s future, with almost half of those polled saying Ireland’s understanding of environmental issues would improve and 45 per cent suggesting people would have better education opportunities. Expectations for overall quality of life were also slightly more positive than negative, with 35 per cent saying they were optimistic compared with 32 per cent who were more downbeat on the subject.However, financial concerns persist with 47 per cent of those who took part in the research saying housing affordability will worsen by 2056, 46 per cent expecting the cost of living to keep rising and 37 per cent saying the financial security of households and their ability to save would probably come under even greater pressure. “The past 30 years have seen Ireland build a hugely successful economy, but this has not automatically translated to an increase in consumer confidence,” said economist Austin Hughes. “The sentiment survey suggests that living through periods of boom and bust has made Irish consumers focus more on persistent day-to-day pressures, rather than on wealth that might not be permanent.”