Life & Style

Seven things anyone who grew up in 80s Ireland will relate to

WITH just a couple of TV channels to flick through, not a huge amount of money going around and Eurovision being the highlight of the year, growing up in late 80’s Ireland could have been the epitomy of misery. But with the bad often comes the good...and the ugly. Here are a few flashbacks from down memory lane - how many do you remember?

1. Hand-me-downs

From that Kylie and Jason T-shirt your older cousins passed on to your older sister's 'way-to-big but you'll grow into it' school uniform, you longed for the day you'd be the first to wear your clothes.

2. Sugar

Ah, those fructose-filled days before sugar, gluten and dairy-free took over the world. From ice cream-laden coke floats to penny sweets there was no shortage of sweet treats on offer at the corner shop. I still remember ditching a life-long loyalty to fat frogs while saving up my punts to buy my very first Magnum circa 1990.

3. After school TV

From Demspey's Den to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles there was an endless stream of cartoons to keep even the most energetic child glued to one spot for at least a few hours. For the older kids there was teen angst-ridden drama from Home and Away while Bosco offered hours of entertainment for younger viewers waiting in anticipation to discover what was behind that magic door!

4. Italia '90

So while the hey-day of Irish football falls just outside the 80s, the seeds for success were truly sown the decade before for what was possibly the first and only time since that I could name all the players on the Republic of Ireland soccer team. Grabbing the latest batch of player stickers on the way home from Sunday Mass was a highlight of the week. All together now: "We're all part of Jackie's army, we're all off to Italy..."

5. Summer holidays

No school and endless weeks of sunshine-filled fun where you'd only see the inside of your house to sleep and shovel down some food once a day. Usually topped off with a week in either Mosney or Trabolgan with all the family.

6. Teletext

Not an iphone in sight, barely a computer for that matter, teletext was a high tech as it got in 80s Ireland, although you might have been lucky to get a Nintendo Gameboy for Christmas.