Stories of the year to come

In 2010, CARL O'BRIEN, Chief Reporter, will follow five people as they journey through another year of uncertainty. For some the past year was traumatic, so what are their hopes and expectations for themselves and for the country?

A year-long series following five people through a changing Ireland

2010 DIARIES

NIALL McALLISTER (43)

Former managing director

I was top of the game. I had a recruitment business that employed 20 people at one stage. I drove a gold Mercedes, had designer this and designer that. I went on expensive family holidays, stayed in five-star hotels.

The company had three branches. We were turning over millions. Things couldn’t have been better. It was around April 2008 that we started experiencing problems. I’ve always been able to solve problems, but these ones I couldn’t solve. Everything stopped. Businesses just seemed to give up. I had to make serious decisions, shut down offices, cut costs, battle the beast.

We tried everything and struggled along. But the end came in February of 2009. It felt awful. I had spent a decade building up the business, and then it turned on its head in just five months. I wasn’t in control.

The stress levels were damaging. I felt loneliness, heartache, everything. I’m a father, and it damaged lots of things. The struggle since has been devastating. I’m renting a one-bedroom apartment in Wicklow town. I’ve sold the car. The only possessions I have are my clothes, a TV from the St Vincent de Paul, a kettle and plates from the office, and an umbrella.

I was technically self-employed, so to get the dole is like running your head into a brick wall. You’re treated like a pariah. You’re useless, nothing. I’m on jobseeker’s allowance now. Its €204 a week. Right now, I’ve just €12 in my pocket. I’ve a Christmas hamper from the St Vincent de Paul, so I had food for Christmas Day, at least. I try to keep positive. I get suited and booted, head into town with my CVs, knocking on doors. I’m highly skilled in marketing, recruitment, HR, but I can’t get a job. I think I’d be a fantastic asset to any company. I’ve the brains and experience to take on practically anything.

I’ve applied for everything from working in a mechanic’s to Tesco. Nothing. At this stage, I almost laugh about it. I think I’m a good man. I’m a father of two beautiful children. I have a lot to offer. I’ve been at the top and now I’m at the bottom. I’d give my two front teeth for a job.

2010? It could well be a bloodbath, especially the first quarter. There are lots of retail businesses holding on by their fingertips. They’re trading to keep themselves out of debt. But we need to move on, we need to hire the talent that’s out there. I just want to get back on track.

ASHLING O’REGAN (22)

Social care worker

I suppose I’m one of the lucky ones. I graduated from college last summer with a degree in social care. We knew things were difficult. We hadn’t worried much about jobs during college, but during the final year there was a growing sense of unease. We knew it would be difficult. I looked around for a long time, going through the tedious business of sending out CVs, looking on the internet for vacancies, applying for jobs.

Thankfully, I got summer work and I’m working as a social care worker through a healthcare recruitment firm called TTM. I can’t credit them enough. They’ve been brilliant. My job is as a locum, but I was asked recently to interview for a permanent relief position. I got offered that and accepted it. That starts in 2010. I wouldn’t say more than 30 per cent of people from my class have a job. Others have gone abroad, mostly to Australia, or are continuing to study. I was lucky in that I was living at home here in Dublin, and didn’t have the expenses others have. I was able to take the time to look for work. A job for me wasn’t as much of a necessity as it was for others.

When I started in college there was no hint there would be difficulties finding work. It was all “you’ll be fine”. It was something we just didn’t worry about. Then, all of a sudden, it was this huge problem.

I’m enjoying work. It’s a whole different ball game to college, using your skills in the workplace. Social care can involve anything: mostly it’s working with children in care. It could be taking them shopping, to the dentist, helping them with day-to-day things. They can have special needs or come from difficult family circumstances. It’s something I’ve always been attracted to. I didn’t want to do a nine-to-five job. I wanted something working with people, where every day is different. And that’s certainly the case as the moment.

I think my experience shows that there are jobs out there. Now, everything has stopped. I’m lucky too in that I have the support of my family, my boyfriend, and the man upstairs. That said, I don’t see there being a huge improvement over the coming year. It will take a long time for the country to recover.

SEÁN BRENNAN (46)

Shop owner (recently featured in RTÉ documentary ‘The Sheriff and Me’)

We bought the Village Hardware shop in Clondalkin in May of 2007. It was a dream. It was something I always wanted to do. We took it over as a family business. I’ve five boys and one girl, ranging in age from 14 to 24. In the past I’ve worked for other people in retail – supermarkets and factories – so I was going to be my own boss for the first time.

It started out great. The weather in April and May that year was beautiful. People were buying garden furniture, lawnmowers, paint. Then, in June it rained. And it rained, and it rained and rained. The recession began to hit and we were stuck with products we couldn’t sell.

Our plan was to develop the business, but we never got the chance. It has all been about survival. The banks didn’t want to know about us. In May 2007 they offered me a €100,000 loan. Unsolicited. It was crazy. The sky was the limit. Then, by January of 2009, they didn’t want to know us. They wouldn’t take our phone calls.

We’re not making a wage out of it now. We’re just paying suppliers off. Life is on hold. Holidays are out of the question. It’s a matter of paying the domestic bills. Everything is going on keeping the house. Support from suppliers hasn’t been great. One or two have been very good. But the bigger ones? No. And you can forget about credit. At one stage I owed a big supplier around €18,000. I paid it off in full. Would he entertain you now? No. They’re as bad as the banks for hounding you.

Myself and my wife Peggy run the business. The lads come down too. A couple are in college, one is working with us, the other has got cut off the welfare, so he gets nothing.

For the family this was the toughest Christmas in 25 years. We cut back back on everything: food, presents. The kids, in fairness, never looked for the impossible. This year, they were the ones telling us we should cut back. Instead of looking for sets of designer clothes, they were looking to make do with what they have.

We just hope to trade through this. We’re getting a lot of support from the punters around here. The future worries me. The year ahead is all about survival. We’re not living, really. We’re working six days a week. For every sale you get, it’s gone on something else. You can’t go off and write a cheque because you’re just afraid. Mentally, you worry the whole time. You’ve got to stay positive, though. We won’t starve, whatever happens.

ANN ELIZABETH GUAN (52)

Care assistant

I have been living here for the past seven years. I got a job through a friend. The economy was booming. "Life will be good," I said to myself. It will be a green pasture for me.

I have four children at home in the Philippines, and I support them. My mother also lives with them. She's 81. I'm the only breadwinner for them (I'm separated from my husband for the past 15 years.) Most of what I send home goes on paying the mortgage for the house they are in and putting my children through college. They are aged between 19 and 29. They live in the city of Baguio in the north of the country.

I have been working here on a work permit. I was employed as a live-in carer until last November, but it was too much. The man had Alzheimer's and needed 24-hour nursing care. He would get up in the middle of the night. He had mobility problems and I was afraid he would fall. I couldn't cope.

That means I have just six months left on my work permit, so I need to find another job soon. I'm beginning to get worried because it is two months now and I don't have work. Every time I phone up the recruitment agencies, they say "ring back in the new year".

My lifestyle these days? I find myself checking my purse to see if I have enough to get a bus into town and back. When I am out with friends, I worry that I might not have enough for a cup of coffee. Sometimes I just stay at home and read, or repair clothes rather than go out. I phone around for jobs, look through the papers.

I'm using my savings to live and send money home. My big fear is I won't have enough to pay for the house in the Philippines. I have nightmares about that: not being able to pay the mortgage, losing the house, us all ending up homeless. That is the nightmare. My mother is also in the early stages of dementia. I don't want her to be jumping from one house to another.

Nowadays in Ireland, some people want to take advantage of the situation you are in. If you do not have a work permit, they try to pay you less than they should. If an elderly person needs 24-hour care, they might try to use just one carer.

For the year ahead? I am hopeful. If I get a job it will bring me happiness and help me support my children. That's my big hope.

MAURA O'KEEFFE (65)

Widow

I'm living on my own. My house is three miles away from the nearest town, Maynooth, but I don't feel isolated. I drive a lot. I have a 1998 Nissan Almera. It's an automatic. The only problem is it costs a lot. I get 27 or 28 miles to the gallon; that works out at 20 cent a mile. Every time you move, it's an expense. And the cost of keeping it on the road – that's around €60 a week, not including petrol.

You need to be careful about money when you're on the pension. I'm under 66, so my widow's pension is being cut from €209, by around €8.50. And because I'm not 66 I also miss out on the perks. The TV licence, electricity, free travel, that kind of thing.

I suppose things have always been a bit of a struggle. It was easier when my husband was alive. He died 12 years ago. We were always frugal.

I used to mend clothes, do a lot of home-baking, and I'm back doing that now. I'm buying cheaper cuts of meat. Stews or Bolognese. You wouldn't be getting T-bone or sirloin steaks, which you might have got in the past.

You think twice about buying clothes, too. I get some in the sales or from catalogues and then I alter them. Heating is a big expense. It's an old house – built in 1938 – so I try to live in the one room during the day and heat that.

I've suffered from a bad back almost all of my life, but it hasn't stopped me. I tried to apply for jobs. I did an ECDL (European Computer Driving Licence) and thought I might get a job as a receptionist or something. No one ever responded.

Maybe that's what happens when you get older.

I'm a bit of a gadgety person: I have a freezer, a heater and a computer that was a present. My hobby is surfing the internet and looking things up. I Skype my brother in Australia and other relatives.

I love music, too, it's wonderful. I like dance music: the quickstep mostly (waltzing too, but it's hard on my back). I go dancing with the Summerhill active retirement association. I volunteer with lots of things, including their seniors helpline.

As for the year ahead, I'm holding out until I turn 66. I'll be eligible for the perks then. That will make things a bit easier.