The GAA Man
Tim Floyd, full-time secretary of the GAA county board in Tipperary.
Tim Floyd works in the Lár na Páirce centre on Slievenamon Road, Thurles, which houses a GAA museum, merchandise shop and country board offices.
The downturn hit the GAA hard in Co Tipperary, he said. The number one hit was in terms of club and championship gate receipts, which were the board’s main source of income, and which fell by up to 80 per cent.
Floyd mentioned to a man recently that he hadn’t seen him at any matches in a while. “He said he was just trying to pay the mortgage, that he had given up cigarettes, done all of those things,” because of the disappearance of so much of his disposable income. Going to matches had to end as part of his cutting back.
Now Floyd is hoping that the income tax changes and the slight reductions in the universal social charge announced in the budget will put a bit more money into people’s pockets. “That will benefit us in the GAA if people can afford to go to matches again.”
The improving economic situation has had its effect on the local game. Rural clubs in particular were affected by the emigration of their players. But more recently, Floyd said, he has noticed that people are beginning to drift back. There is a bit of a lift in the economy and the GAA can see, through the inter-country transfer register, young men transferring back from the clubs they joined abroad after they left in search of work.
“We are definitely starting to see a change. Some teams are getting stronger as a result.Guys that [emigrated] as late teenagers are back now in their mid-20s and are still well able to hurl, still fine, able, fit young men.”
He is hoping that the positive measures in the budget will have a “ricochet effect” and give a boost to the local economy, and the local game.
The Lecturer
Dr Rebecca Purcell, head of business, St Patrick’s College of Education and Training for Post Primary Teachers
The main thing Rebecca Purcell wanted from the budget was that it would “build on the positivity that we are beginning to feel in Thurles and around Tipperary in general”.
She was pleased, therefore, that the budget had some positives for the SME sector and that the sector got the level of recognition in Michael Noonan’s speech that she believes it deserves. SMEs, she said, play a very important role in the Thurles economy. There are no local multinational employers and most of the jobs in the area are in indigenous micro-enterprises, started up by people from the locality.
“I think what is really important is that we support these indigenous organisations because they are rooted in Thurles and I think [such a policy] is a much more sustainable way of development for a town like Thurles.”
Her father recently retired from farming and leased his land to a local farmer, and she was glad to see the budget give continued support to farm leasing. The supports that have been put in place have contributed to the more efficient use of agricultural land, she said.
However, she noted there was nothing in the Minister’s speech on reducing the registration fee burden for third-level students. “I suppose that will be left to next year.”
She would like to see the Minister for Education “grasp the nettle” of introducing a student loan system that would allow students fund their own higher education and remove the burden from parents. The absence of such a mechanism is, she believes, a barrier to entry for a lot of people.
The Barber
Pat Butler, of Pat’s Barbers, Emmet Street.
From the vantage point of his 19-year-old barber shop, Pat Butler has noted how changes in the economy have affected both the age profile and mood of his male customer base.
Since the crash, a lot of his customers have emigrated to Canada, England, Australia and the State. “I suppose most of them I won’t see again. They won’t be back. Its sadder for their families than it is for me, of course.”
Ever since the sugar factory closed, Thurles has been something of an employment black spot, he says, “but it’s worse its after getting”.
Over the past few months he has noticed a more positive attitude in the town compared with 18 months ago, when the mood was really on the floor. Nevertheless, he said, “the town needs some kind of injection in the arm in the line of employment. Where it’s going to come from I don’t know.”
The budget measures he noticed were the “bit of the reduction” in the universal social charge, the increase in child benefit, and some other small changes that might help families get by.
The big difference for him, however, was the “big improvement across the board in comparison with back to 2009, when they were all austerity budgets.” The budget was “definitely a step in the right direction” and for that he was glad.
The Student
Julie McNally, final year student at the Limerick Institute of Technology, Thurles, where she is vice-president of the student union
From Kildare, Julie McNally is a final-year accountancy and finance student living in rented accommodation in Thurles. She has a grant that gives her the equivalent of €84 per week to live on, but has to spend €60 of that on rent. So that leaves €24 a week for bills, electricity, food. “It doesn’t cut it.”
In her work as a student union officer in Thurles, the cost of finding rented accommodation is something she hears about constantly. Trying to get affordable rent while living on a grant or a tight budget “is a major put-off for people who want to be in college”.
However, for students generally the main issue is definitely the registration fee, which is due to increase to €3,000 next year, putting even more pressure on third-level students who are already finding the going tough.
For her the budget didn’t give anything in terms of higher grants or relief from college fees. “But we’re not overly giving out. They’re not giving but they’re not taking away either, and that a major point.”
From the more general point of view, the budget is a welcome change from the harsh austerity announcements of previous years, she felt. “People generally are probably happy that’s it’s going in the right direction.”
The Auctioneer
Peter Broderick, PJ Broderick and Co
Peter Broderick works in the family auctioneering business on Liberty Square. While there have been signs over the past number of months that the local property market is coming back to life, he said, the recent announcement by the Central Bank that buyers will have to fund a 20 per cent deposit, threatens that. “You could see a bit of a lift,” he said, “but I think [the Central Bank announcement] is going to put a dampener on it, definitely.”
There might be reason for such a measure in Dublin, Cork or Galway, but not in the Thurles region, where the jobs market “is not fantastic”.
An average semi-detached, three-bedroom house costs €150,000, meaning a buyer needs a €30,000 deposit. The Central Bank should have different rules for “down the country”, he believes.
During the boom, “when things were flying”, an average three-bed semi made up to €250,000. “There was great demand, no problem.” Then prices dropped by up to 60 per cent, and sales stopped. He and his brother, David, moved into the rental market “in a big way”.
When the bust came, and as the sale of property stalled, the rental market boomed. A shortage of properties has developed, and three-bed semis are able to command a rent of up to €650 a month.
The budget, he felt, was “okay” and going in the right direction. “Middle-income families will have a little bit more to spend” and this would be good for the economy generally. He was also hopeful that budget measures aimed at promoting house construction would positively affect the property market. However, he was disappointed there was nothing to address the difficulties would-be buyers are having in accessing credit.
The Dental Nurse
Bridie Ryan, dental nurse with Thurles Dentist.ie on Cathedral Street.
Cutbacks during the austerity years to the cover that was available for people’s dental care under social insurance and the medical card have hit the dentistry business, according to Bridie Ryan, a dental nurse with Thurles Dentist.ie. The business has two dental surgeons, two dental nurses and a hygienist, and has been seeing a slight improvement over more recent times.
The budget had nothing major in it that would affect her life or that of the dental business, but the small positive changes it included, in areas such as income tax, could be viewed as a harbinger of what is to come in next year’s pre-election budget, she said. “It’s a start, I suppose. Nothing major, but every little helps.”
She was glad to see the extension of the home-renovation incentive scheme. Her son-in-law is a plumber who got some work from the scheme since it was introduced.
Overall, she felt that the Government was probably right to start with small steps and move slowly towards reversing the direction of previous years, given the continuing fragile nature of the economy.
However, she had been hoping for more measures that would help people look after their dental health, and that would put more disposable income into the economy, and thereby promote employment growth.
On a personal level, she feels she is in the group that has to pay for everything but receives little. Everything has gone up in price over recent years, and then there was the property tax on her house and now the water charge. People like her, she said, could dearly do with having some extra money in their pockets.
The Unemployed
John Ryan, living on disability benefit.
John Ryan has been living on disability benefit since 2008, when he was employed in the security industry, got very sick, and couldn’t work any more. “I find myself now living on the edge, as the fellow says.”
He worked for 45 years up to his getting sick and finds it difficult to live on benefits. He does not have a family.
“A slice of bread is better than no loaf at all,” was his reaction to the budget. The 25 per cent Christmas bonus will work out at about €53 for him, but “it’s better than a kick in the teeth”.
The €100 water charge allowance will mean his bill for water might end up being approximately €140 a year, which he thinks wouldn’t be that bad.
Overall, he is pleased that the drift is now going in the right direction, even if the changes are small.
He has high regard for the young people of Ireland and thinks it is a good thing at the Government is to employ more special needs assistants and teachers. However, a subject that upsets him is to see children with chronic diseases and disabilities having to rely on charity to get the care they need. He thinks it is a disgrace that Ireland allows such a situation.
Something else that annoys him, he says, is that people from Russia, Poland, Latvia and Lithuania are still here when the jobs scene is probably better back in their own countries. “I have nothing against foreign nationals,” he quickly added. “But there are not enough jobs to go round.”
Another thing that annoys him about Ireland is how people need qualifications for even the most ordinary jobs. He would like to see more done for young men who are willing to turn their hands to anything in order to get off the dole, even if it is just sweeping the streets of Thurles. The country, he said, is full of over-qualified people.
He doesn’t believe things are getting better. “They are getting better in the cities, in Dublin above, but not down around Tipperary. Plus we have no voice for Thurles, no voice for Tipperary full stop since Michael Lowry. He’s still there but doesn’t have the clout any more.”
The Teacher
Mary Bourke, teacher at the Ursuline Secondary School, Thurles
“At least it’s a start,” said Mary Bourke, who teaches Irish and geography at the Ursuline school. “Overall, it’s good news relative to other years. We’re getting rather than giving away.”
She was pleased to see the tax bands widening and the universal social charge, which she thinks is a very unfair tax, being reduced, but she thinks the individualisation of the income tax system should be reviewed in the light of increased unemployment over recent years. Why should a two-person household, where one person is unemployed, get less benefit from the widening of the bands than a household where both adults are working? she asks.
Teachers have been put under a lot of pressure by the downturn, she said. The pupil-teacher ratio went to 19 to one, from 18 to one, which in reality means some classes have 30 students in them.
Therefore, she gave a “huge welcome, a céad mile fáilte”, to the plan to employ an extra 1,700 teachers and special needs assistants, and will be watching with interest to see the allocation between primary and secondary levels.
While the relief on the water charge was welcome, she thought it was a small concession on a tax that is “crucifying”, coming as it does in the wake of the property tax.
She felt public servants had borne the brunt of much of the cutbacks in Government spending, and that the amount of preparation and correction that teachers were now asked to do, outside of teaching hours, had been hugely increased, and not just for teachers of project maths.
The Retired
Patrick O’Dwyer, Thurles,
Patrick O’Dwyer, a former plumber with the council who is now retired, said he and his wife did not find it hard to get by on the pension. “Neither of us drink or smoke or do any of those things; the only thing we have is a decent old car, so we’re okay. But I wouldn’t like things to get much worse, I can assure you.”
His reaction to the budget? “It’s a joke.” He reckons he will be getting about an extra €5 a month. “Would you give it to a child?” The Christmas bonus won’t be enough to buy burgers for his five grandchildren.
While he probably should be happy that the period of austerity budgets was over, he was not convinced that after next year’s election the new Government wouldn’t suddenly discover that it had to impose more tax hikes and cutbacks.
He was concerned about the water charges. They are “going to be a disaster. I’m trying to save it but my wife is using it like there’s no tomorrow, which she’s always done. It’s going to cost us a damn lot of money, I think.”
Thurles has been hard hit by the downturn, he believes. “You need only look around. Friar Street used to be the Grafton Street of Thurles. But go down there now, there are about three shops open, the rest of them are all gone.”
But his three sons, he says, are “getting on famous.” Two are members of An Garda Síochána and the third started a courier business with his first cousin two years ago. They have six vans on the road and “from listening to him anyway, they’re very busy.”
The Shop Manager
Tom Ryan, Manager, Thurles Farm Store,
The biggest industry for the Thurles region is farming and, according to Tom Ryan, manager of the Centenary Co-op outlet in the town, the boom didn’t strongly affect the industry and it was also in the main unaffected by the downturn.
“Farming was keeping its own pace. It never really was affected by the boom, it was left behind a bit, so when the recession came it wasn’t really a big factor.”
Given the strength of the dairy sector in the region and the fact that EU milk quotas are coming to an end next year, there has been a lot of investment lately by dairy farmers in their businesses. Ryan said he had not heard of any farmers having difficulties accessing credit.
There were some welcome measures in the budget from the perspective of the farming community, with the expansion of the farm-leasing incentive scheme being a welcome development that would help free up more land for younger farmers.
However, the was “nothing fantastic” in the budget for the farming community, which has seen lots of cuts to farm schemes over the past number of years.
On a more general note, however, he said the budget “will go down as the end of the austerity budgets”, with everyone ending up with a few pounds extra in their pockets as a result of it. “That hasn’t been the case for a long number of years.”
