The lyrical content of modern pop music rarely strays explicitly into politics and economics.<\/p>\n
The recently released song Euro-Country by Co Meath singer-songwriter CMAT<\/a> is an exception, addressing her childhood in the post-Celtic Tiger<\/a> years and the trauma experienced as a result of the economic crash, bailout and austerity years. <\/p>\n \u201cAll the big boys, all the Berties, all the envelopes, yeah, they hurt me …\u201d she sings.<\/p>\n The Euro-Country video features CMAT wandering through a largely deserted shopping centre wearing a top emblazoned with the word \u201cBertie\u201d. <\/p>\n As Bertie Ahern<\/a> was mentioned recently as a possible candidate for the Irish presidency, the song\u2019s popularity provided a boon to critics of the former taoiseach and his government\u2019s policies before the crash. (Ahern has since said he will not run for president.<\/a>) <\/p>\n \u201cI was 12 when the das started killing themselves all around me,\u201d it continues. \u201cAnd it was normal building houses that stay empty even now …\u201d<\/p>\n The reference to suicide has reopened analysis of that time and the psychological impact of economic loss and unemployment.<\/p>\n [\u00a0\u2018I was living a weird double life\u2019: How CMAT\u2019s generation endured the Celtic Tiger crash Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n \u201cThe pre-existing downward trend in male suicide was reversed in Ireland during the downturn, more than in many other EU countries,\u201d says Brendan Kelly, professor of psychiatry at Trinity College Dublin.<\/p>\n Kelly says the noticeable increase in Irish male suicide from 2007 onwards can be mapped directly against the economic crash. Recorded suicides had been dropping in Ireland as prosperity and employment increased throughout the boom, but as the construction sector began slowing, the trend was quickly reversed.<\/p>\n He cites research by the National Suicide Research Foundation (NSRF) showing that the rate of male suicide between the years of 2007 and 2012 was 57 per cent higher than it would have been had the economy not crashed.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was no other plausible cause of sufficient magnitude at the time,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n A comparative study of suicide rates across Europe at the time shows Ireland\u2019s experience was among the worst. <\/p>\n Along with Greece and Latvia, Ireland witnessed an increase of more than 15 per cent. This is compared with the likes of Bulgaria, France and Germany, where instances of male suicide rose by less than 3 per cent.<\/p>\n Kelly says that across Europe during the \u201cGreat Recession\u201d of this period male suicide increases \u201cwere significantly associated\u201d with increases in the unemployment rate. For every 1 per cent increase in unemployment, they rose by 0.9 per cent.<\/p>\n Ireland bore this out, he says. <\/p>\n More than 40 per cent of the recorded cases between September 2008 and March 2012 were among men who had worked in construction \u2013 a sector that laid off some 200,000 workers during that period.<\/p>\n State intervention to protect jobs and livelihoods during the Covid<\/a> pandemic, when large parts of the economy closed overnight to stem the spread of the virus, prevented a repeat of this increase in the suicide rate. <\/p>\n The NSRF found there was no increase in male suicide rates in the first 15 months, despite hundreds of thousands of people being out of work for a sustained period. <\/p>\n The study suggested that the emergency unemployment measures introduced in Ireland and most developed economies were \u201ccritical\u201d in this scenario.<\/p>\n By the time Covid arrived, the State was flush with unexpected corporation tax revenues from the big US multinationals, bolstering the public finances. Such fiscal wriggle-room was not available in 2008 \u2013 as the Fianna F\u00e1il<\/a> government pursued drastic cutbacks in public spending. <\/p>\n This suggests that the human toll in Ireland might have been lessened had austerity policies not been so severe or so long-lasting.<\/p>\n [\u00a0Average monthly rents now twice those of Celtic Tiger peak, data showsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n \u201cIt was fairly clear that the recession began in 2008, but the impact it had on the rate of suicide went on for some time, with the bailout and emigration going on for several years,\u201d says Paul Corcoran, head of research at the NSRF.<\/p>\n He points to international research by academic David Stuckler that suggests there is a clear relationship between austerity measures and suicide.<\/p>\n \u201cSome European countries at that time were able to maintain their social supports and that helped to soften the effects of the recession,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cWhereas in Ireland, people were losing their jobs \u2013 and at the same time cuts were happening in social welfare that were worsening the situation. <\/p>\n \u201cIt explains why there was such a sustained impact on the suicide rate in Ireland over those years. It seemed to last five or six years after the recession hit. It feels plausible to me that the austerity policies prolonged this.\u201d <\/p>\n He notes that Ireland saw a much-improved outcome during Covid and this can reasonably be linked to the wage supports.<\/p>\n \u201cYou would hope if there was the same sort of shock again, the Government wouldn\u2019t implement austerity policies,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n In the decades that followed the Great Depression, the western world seemed to learn the importance of supporting workers through difficult periods to prevent a re-run of the miseries endured in the 1920s and 1930s. This period greatly contributed to the development of the welfare state.<\/p>\n Lessons from the past can be learned. <\/p>\n The question of whether Ireland is better prepared than it was to help people struggling under financial strains is hard to answer, however. Would there be better mental health outcomes in the event of an economic shock like that of 2008?<\/p>\n \u201cIt is very difficult to forecast \u2013 everyone has a unique response to financial pressure, like a different fingerprint,\u201d says Rionach Campbell, a clinician at the suicide and self-harm prevention charity Pieta<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cOn financial matters the support available is still very limited in terms of the list of services we can refer people to. <\/p>\n \u201cVery often there is a huge fear about going back to your bank \u2013 or talking to your bank manager about support.\u201d<\/p>\n Campbell said she would like to see more options in addition to the Money Advice and Budgeting Service<\/a> (Mabs) \u201cwhere people can get guidance\u201d.<\/p>\n She applauds the work being done by Mabs in parts of the country that have been hardest hit by the rising cost of living and notes that valuable research has been carried out covering the impact of food-price inflation. <\/p>\n