Why the 1990s Was the Best Time to Be Irish
Introduction – A Changing Country
I've been more than a little nostalgic of late due to all the current bad press in our country and indeed the rest of the world. I began thinking about my younger years and all the goings on of the past and how different life was 'back in the day'. After a bit of mental gymnastics looking over the last few decades, I keep coming back to the same conclusion: the 1990s was the last time Ireland truly felt alive.
It was a decade where things shifted almost overnight, from a country literally scraping by in the 1980s to one suddenly full of work, money, energy and hope for the future. You could feel it everywhere, in the streets, in the pubs, even in the way people carried themselves. For the first time in living memory, Ireland felt like it was on the up.
I came out of school in the mid-nineties at just the right time and was thrust into the great world of the working and earning adult. Money, status as a working individual and a great hope for a decent future was all within my grasp. The opportunities seemed endless and there was no way but up!
Thinking back on the 1990s makes me compare it with other parts of Irish identity that have been badly handled — like how our own language has been taught. I wrote about that in more detail in my post Learning Irish the Wrong Way Leaves All Irish People Embarrassed.
Being Irish, Exclusive and Proud
In the 1990s, Ireland still belonged to the Irish. It felt like an exclusive club — and we Irish were all members.
The streets, the pubs, the football grounds, they were filled with familiar faces and a shared national identity. You didn’t feel like a stranger in your own town. That sense of belonging gave us a confidence and pride that has been stripped away in recent years. Politicians will never admit it, but their short-sighted policies have chipped at the very fabric of what made us feel at home in our own country.
In those bygone days, we had no problem whipping out the Tri-Colour for football matches and we sang Amhrán na bhFiann with pride at the end of the night in the pub. Those days are sadly gone.
A Blossoming Economy
The Celtic Tiger was starting to roar from about 1995 onwards. There were new cars on the roads, houses going up everywhere in a new building boom and holidays abroad started becoming normal. For the first time in our history, most families had a bit of spare money. Life didn’t feel so tight anymore.
I was a lowly apprentice in 1995-1996 and my meager earnings still went a long way. I worked where I could to support my new trade and my brand new social life. It was great to be Irish!
Plenty of Work
There were jobs everywhere for once, a far cry from the unemployment figures of the 1980s and the dismal reports I remember from the nightly news when I was a child.
Builders, bar staff, office workers, waiters, seemingly nobody was short of work. Young people didn’t need to pack up and emigrate for the first time in probably over a hundred years. There was optimism in being able to build a life here at home, in Ireland, near your family and not 3,000 miles away. You didn't have to be gone forever anymore.
Great Pub Environments & Craic
The pubs of the 90s were really something special. Smoke in the air, full and empty pint glasses lined up on the pub counters on busy nights, live music in the corner, and laughter ringing out long into the night. The day drinker would sometimes morph into the night drinker when the craic was 90! (an Irish expression in case you've never heard it before)
It wasn’t polished or staged for Instagram, it was real, messy but brilliant craic. I had some great days perched on the high stool, the intention of only having a few and going home, long forgotten.
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Brilliant Nightlife
And the clubs! From town discos to Dublin’s biggest venues, the nightlife was buzzing – all over the country. Dance music was exploding, Irish bands were on the rise, and weekends often blurred into the start of the week. There was a sense of freedom you just can’t recreate now and if you never experienced it, you won't know what I'm talking about.
We would migrate from pub to late bar to night club depending on the day of the week like it was a biological imperative rather than a plan for the evening. Oh how I wish I could go back to those days again.
Irish Sports on the Rise
Sport gave us some major pride too. Italia ’90 lit a fire in the country, and USA ’94 kept it burning long after the tournaments ended. We all lived for the Republic of Ireland squad in the 90s, where Ireland finally placed itself in amongst the giants of professional football/soccer (I have to say both) for the first time in our history.
It was also my first time having a few pints in a pub during the games on TV and being well buzzed by the final whistle, trying to look more sober than I was to all the real adults around me.
GAA crowds were huge, rugby was finding its place and we had cyclists competing & winning in the big international races. For once, Ireland was starting to believe in itself on the world stage. All sporting activities were huge in Ireland in those days, trust me on that! We all took an interest, even if we knew nothing about a particular sport – if Ireland were in it, we were for it!
A Country in Decline – The Politics
But while the people were thriving, the politicians were already laying the groundwork for disaster and by late 2006, it arrived with a bang. The Celtic Tiger died a horrible death.
Corruption, greed, and bad planning crept in. The property bubble swelled, public services were neglected and public pay increased beyond all logical reason (so that the politicians could get paid more too). Decisions were made that we’re still paying for to this day. The signs of decline were there, we just didn’t want to see them or we trusted that our government would do their job properly and look after our national affairs. Instead, they tried to sweep it all under the carpet or pass the buck.
Conclusion – A Glimmer of Hope
Looking back, the 1990s will always stand as Ireland’s golden decade for me. A time of money, work, craic, and great pride in our country. But also a warning – of what happens when a good thing is wasted by those in charge. Even now, there’s still a glimmer of hope that Ireland can rediscover some of that spirit. But for me, nothing will ever beat the magic of the 90s.
Here in 2025, successive Irish governments have made such drastic mistakes that they threaten our very identity. Across the UK and Europe, “fly the flag” movements have sprung up, and now the Irish Tri-Colour is starting to rise again in a wave of national pride. This runs directly against the globalist push to dilute national sovereignty in the West and it’s a movement I hope will spread like wildfire.
It might not be the 1990s anymore but I'm still Irish and still very proud to be so.
Thanks For Reading,
David
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About the Author
I’m David Condon, a blog writer and small business owner based in Tralee, Co. Kerry. After years of working for myself in woodcraft and teaching woodturning, I started this blog to share ideas, experiences, and finds that go beyond the workshop. From tech gadgets to life in Ireland, you’ll find a mix of personal stories, reviews, and opinions — all grounded in real day-to-day life.
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