Has anyone noticed the decline in customer service in Hotels, Cafes and other venues?

The social aspect and the friendly face of customer service is no more. I mean I don't expect to see a big grin when I walk into a place but a basic standard of service won't go a miss. Minimum wage and employers not willing to employ more experience staff who ask to be paid above minimum wage is a huge contributing factor.

There are certainly options that could have been used to create recyclable packaging.

To be fair I feel its gotten better over the past few years but it still pains me to read this.

Did you attend today’s jobsexpo at RDS? The queue was very long infact it was so long it literally made it’s way to the parking entrance, we all clearly know what this tells about the jobs in ireland!

What are your thoughts?

Did you make any good connections here?

Hi all,

So I got oil last week, like 780 euro for 500 liters. I came home yesterday evening to find that my fiancée had put the oil heating on constant and had forgotten about it. It was on for 4 hours.

This got me thinking 🤔 what is the “normal” amount of time to put on the heating for these days? It seems to have gotten a lot colder recently. It was only 4 degrees Celsius last Thursday or Wednesday morning. Can’t remember which..

So R/askireland how long do you switch on your heating for and for how long each day?

Personally I would think given the price of oil these days. Perhaps an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening. We have an external insulation too. Which doesn’t seem to make that much of a difference really..

What do you think of Aran jumpers? Would you buy and wear them? Why or why not?

I’m dealing with chronic back pain for over a year now. I’ve spoken with my doctor about it who has recommended acupuncture (which I’ve had a few sessions of) which relieves the pain short term but doesn’t fix the structural issues I have, as I’ve discovered by visiting a chiropractor. I’ve been going to physio too which hasn’t helped.

I’m back at work after 2 months off and the pain is so unbearable from sitting at the desk all day. I get up every 30 minutes or so to go for a walk, keep my posture as best as I can but I’m still so sore. I’m luckily living at home with my parents right now but only have about €2k in savings, which won’t get me very far as my next route is to get treatment from a chiropractor which will be in the region of €1k, and I need to buy a car also.

I’m only back at work a few days and I really need the money but I’m not sure how much longer I can deal with the pain for. Do I stay working and fight through it so I can afford the treatment or what other alternative do I have? Thanks in advance for any advice, I’m in a bit of a pickle and would like to know if there’s anything I’m not thinking of

In the late '60's countries like Iceland and Sweden switched from driving on the left to driving on the right side of the road in order to align with mainland Europe.

Would you ever consider supporting such a change in Ireland?

I’ve got a 1st class degree that I graduated from NUIG, 3-4 years working retail (about 2 years of that as a supervisor), and about 2-3 years experience as a carpenter.

I’ve had personal projects where I’ve done some process improvements for people’s businesses in my local area (online coaches, hairdressers, barbers, mechanics) kinda streamlining their service delivery pretty much.

And applying for retail jobs? Denied. Applying for admin roles? Denied. Applying for any related office jobs? Denied. In my excel document I have applied for around 200\~ jobs since June, and I have got 1 interview where they said I didn’t have the right experience, yet the job listing pretty much said a degree was essential but experience wasn’t relevant cause of the training they would provide.

I am on the dole and it’s taking its getting to the point I’m about to lose my mind. I’m 28, still living at home, in the northwest where the job market is limited anyways. Feel I need to move to a bigger market for the type of career I want to get into, can’t even get a shitty retail job to try bridge the gap before I’d move to somewhere like London.

Anyone have any ideas? My head is fried and I really don’t know what to do anymore.

Going through the trenches this week and I accepted to be voluntarily admitted to a MH hospital as I really am at rock bottom. I don’t trust myself to be at home. What was your experience like?

Lost my mum unexpectedly a few months ago. It’s her birthday soon and I don’t know what to do for it. Should I celebrate it? Is that weird? There’s no grave to visit and the other siblings want to pretend the day just isn’t happening (totally fine). I’m living with my dad and he doesn’t know what to do. He had mentioned going out for dinner but that doesn’t feel right either. Nothing does.

She was my best friend and I feel so alone. She would have been 65 and I’d big plans for throwing a party for her retirement. I always spent her birthday with her usually going out for lunch or dinner or cooking something fancy for her at home and sometimes cinema dates. I have to look after my dad too for the day and make sure he’s okay and not leave him on his own.

I’d like to start a tradition of doing something to mark it. I wanted to get a cake but no one else wants to. I thought about buying a card and writing to her but I couldn’t bring myself to buy one after staring at them for 15mins. Would it still be a tradition if I didn’t do it this year and started it next year as maybe this year might be too hard?

I’d love to know what other people do. Please be kind.

ESB networks mentioning that P1 ports will be activated late in 2026.
We're pretty much there, or is it late as in "31 December 2026 at 23:59" late?

Hi everyone, a non-EU family member came to Ireland for a short holiday but unfortunately suffered a life-threatening medical issue and is still in hospital.

They have no health insurance and aren’t financially well-off. This was completely unexpected, and we’re worried about how they’ll manage the hospital bill.

Does anyone know what happens in this situation if they can’t afford to pay? Has anyone experienced something similar?

Hiya, yank here, and looking for cool folklore ideas for a tattoo. I have Irish ancestry, some of the older generations coming from Cork. I spent a bit of time in Ireland and grew up with stories of fairies and other folklore. I love mythology and a good portion of my Master's degree will focus on it, I plan on getting mythology tattoos to nod to all of my significant ancestry portions (I'm not talking 1% lol more like 30%+). I want to get the tattoo as a nod to old family history and the great time I spent in Ireland. So far I'm leaning into a púca in the form of a dog with some blackberry bramble incorporated. The plan is to do it in a medieval style to match my other mythology tattoos. I would love to hear your favorite folklore and suggestions!

Hey!

The husband of a relative (not close - 2nd cousin) passed away today of old age. They lived as close as you can get to next door to my father and would have been close to my grandparents. I’m in my early 20s and moved out of the home in (very) rural ireland , and now live in Dublin.

My dad had asked that i take 5 days bereavement leave for this, so i could go to all of the funeral events etc presumably in his place to represent the family (he’s a recluse/ immature and tends to shirk responsibilities to me). This is quite extreme as I’d say i hadn’t spoken to the man or his wife in about 2 years if not more.

I’m on probation still in my job, it’s my first ever post-grad job and we have specific days we can and cannot work from home. My manager is relaxed but some of my peers have been reprimanded for working from home extra days/ denied it. I can’t drive and don’t own a car, so I would be dependent on a train home, and back in time for work etc etc. It would be quite difficult and long (2.5hr assuming no delays) journey via a mix of train and bus for me to get from my home house to work following the wake/ funeral etc.

I was wondering if

1. it makes sense for me to go/ looks bad if i don’t given that i’m not in any way an immediate family member.. but it is still family, and would be closer emotionally for my father than some of 1st cousins due to proximity.
2. if i do go, would it be appropriate to ask if i could work an extra day from home to attend or should i just suck it up and make the 2.5 hr journey? I know that that is some peoples regular commute after all. and am afraid of looking like a dosser as i worked an extra day from home to attend a hospital appointment + took sick leave and annual leave this month too.

Also, if i was to go to the funeral say whatever way they fall - would it look bad if i went straight home to wfh and treated it like an appointment with work? I’m scared of not making my timesheets.

Hopefully i don’t sound too un empathetic , I just didn’t know the man very well and struggle a bit with anxiety. I’m rlly worried about pissing my work and my family off. My dad is making it sound like if i don’t go i may as well disown myself, but idk how seriously the elderly and folk of a certain generation (60+) take a funeral.

Would my work mind if i wfh ? Would it look bad if i don’t attend/ cant attend?

I'm truly at the end of my tether here and looking for advice.

I attend private therapy and private psychiatry, have been referred to my CMHT (which I can barely ever attend due to their inflexibility around scheduling, I work full time. The private healthcare is pricey but at least I can choose when to be seen), and am on sertraline, aripiprazole, clomipramine and diazepam. I've only been getting worse, to the point where getting through every day is extremely difficult. Even the things I enjoy doing are tainted by constant fear, dread, anxiety and intrusive thoughts. It's debilitating.

I work to afford rent and quitting/going part time isn't an option. Stress/mental health leave isn't an option because I've already taken 10 days off from work this year for it. I've been through so many different medications (fluoxetine, venlafaxine, citalopram, alprazolam). I've seen GPs, been referred to the ED, been to different therapists...

Realistically, what can I do? What are the next steps, from the perspectives of those living in Ireland with similar experiences to me? I want to get better so, so badly but feel like I've hit a brick wall.

No plans on dying any time soon but trying to do a little forward planning. What's the typical cost of a funeral and burial? I suspect it varies on region. Do you save a lot of money by being cremated? Does everything have to go through a funeral home? Can you have a non-religious wake and be cremated? Don't want to leave my kids with any financial burden. I thought the credit union used to have insurance for funerals but can't seem to find anything other than a once off payment of 1k.

Well, the timer for my oil boiler is on the way out and would like to replace it with something smart; or seni smart. Can anyone recommend one with a ncie app that doesnt a subscription?

Hi all, I'm looking to upgrade my old (ancient) Dimplex CXL combination storage heaters in my 2-bed flat and could really use some real-world advice. The current setup is bulky, ugly, runs out of heat by evening, and costs a fortune. I'm leaning towards vertical ceramic radiators to free up low wall space in the living room and in the bedrooms.

If you have made a similar switch, which route did you take and how did it affect your electricity bills?

Thank you!

Remember when each brand would have multiple versions of the same car; like hatchback, saloon, estate and so on. I’ve recently noticed that nearly all of their fleets now are crossovers and suvs. Especially the likes of ford, Kia, Toyota and Hyundai.

Even where they are available they’re not popular; like the new opel Astra; they used to be everywhere about 15 years so, along with the 3 door Corolla which has been done away with too. Even the new micra looks like a crossover.

Have we just become more Americanised in our love for bigger cars?

Hi there, not 100% sure if this is the corrext place to be coming to but thought i would chance my arm.

Im a 26 year old male looking to get into football. Ive always wanted to play, as long as i can remember, but extreme anxiety issues held me back. Now in my recovery, i think that this is the next step.

Is there any beginner friendly / super casual teams around Dublin that would train maybe 2x per week. I have basically no experience so would be a total beginner.

I cant see any beginner coaching for adults at the moment? But if anyone had any leads that would be great lol, would love to show up to a team with basic level of training.

Any info appreciated!

​I just wanted to let this out because it happened just a few minutes ago. I had just finished my shift and was heading home on the DART. I saw a group of teenagers shouting and play-fighting with each other, and at first, that was it.

​Then they started whispering to each other, and all of a sudden, I felt a small hit. I thought they were throwing ice at each other or something, but then something else hit me again. I was the fucking target. For a second, I wanted to confront them and ask them directly what their problem was or what they wanted, but then I realized I would be the one screwed if something happened (I'm the fucking immigrant here). If they punched me or something, I definitely would have fought back, so I just grabbed my stuff and moved to another carriage.

​Was that really the only thing I could have done? I wanted to hear from you all: what's going on? Why are things like that normalized? I mean, they only threw M&Ms at me this time, but I've seen teenagers do much worse things. Why is this so normalized? Thanks, everybody.

Edit:Thanks everyone for your comments. I just wanted to get it out and hear some of your experiences and advice. I wouldn't have done anything, you know? It was just an intrusive thought, haha. To clarify, the minority group I am in is Latino, and NO, I'm not a fucking bot farming aura xdd. Thanks again!