I’m currently out of work since Christmas, this is the first long spell off in four years, so not too bad since I’m a carpenter. However, I’ve been really looking for work, and can’t get any, I’ve never seen it so bad. All my mates and family that work in construction agree, there’s people out of work now that always were busy enough. There’s work out there ready to start but most people don’t have the money for it, and the banks simply aren’t lending.

Consumer confidence comes with strong government and big semi state companies ( electric Ireland ) staying uncontradictory with their plans.. We are in an age were we need to conserve energy and yet electric Ireland are now charging people who use very little power.. WTF..!

Im the same as before,not entirely optimistic but no less either.

How can people be expected to be optimistic when the government are doing absolutely nothing and when the threat of a “mini budget” hangs over our heads, we all know that “mini budget” really means full blown budget where people will lose even more disposable income. You can’t keep. taking money from people and still expect them to go out and spend, how are people suppose to spend when they haven’t got it when it’s after been robbed by the government.

Mr lee sorry but how can you spend money when you have none ps speaking on behalf of the people of Ireland

as far as i can see the people who are saying be optimistic are the people who have money but are not spending,ie politicians ,mr lee,mr russell

I’d really appreciate if we did less to attract foreign investment and more to support Irish startups

this year i decided to be more positive, i m now positive that this (and the previous govt) dont have a feckin clue what their doing, im positive that were being screwed by the e.u. and i.m.f., im positive that none of the bastards who got us into this mess will ever be prosecuted, and im positive that in the next budget those at the lower end of the monetery scale will once again be shfted by those at the top, with even more stealth tax’s, water charges and something along the lines of a the poll tax introduced. as for the referendum if its a no vote they will just rehash it again and again untill the troicre get’s its way.

The main indicator of an improvement in the economy would be a reduction in the number of people unemployed and that includes the thousand who were forced to emigrate for work,

Damn. Seems I can never back a winner in these polls…

The glass is half full of hemlock

I’m less optimistic than a year ago regarding the economy, given that FG/Lab have carried on where FF left off despite promising different. Still positiive on a personal level tho because I realise I have all I need, if not all I want.

I’d say we don’t know the half of what is going on in this country! Anybody who is optimistic is just going to be more disappointed.

Mini budget my arse last one out of country turn off lights please

that should read hundreds of thousands

Will ye feck off with your bullshit polls showing a supposedly tiny rise in public opinion. People have become a lot wiser now and can see thru the lies and propaganda bullshit. You’ll be claiming next that the Earth IS flat, Santa Claus is real and the Moon IS in fact made of cheese! Sod off!!!!

Its depressing HOW NEGATIVE all comments are – if we are ALWAYS complaining and moaning…nothing will happen and with ahhh the country is fucked….IS JUST NOT TRUE> There must be happening changes IN OUR MIND, our ideas must change, our celtic tiger attitude must change – i am also on the other end of the line but still I am positive as CRISIS ALWAYS MEANS CHANCES and a MUST to change views! I am looking foward to the NEW ireland! ;-)

Hmmm.. So a figure above 50 is seen as growth… So we had growth in feb 2011.. Don’t think so..! Without a shadow of doubt those figures were given by an Irish economist..! If indeed we actually have any worth their salt coz they weren’t there in 07 or the years before..

With optimism, you look upon the sunny side of things. People say, ‘Studs, you’re an optimist.’ I never said I was an optimist. I have hope because what’s the alternative to hope? Despair? If you have despair, you might as well put your head in the oven. Studs Terkel.

Less optimistic,nothing bur lies,and scare tactics…

All the pessimistic nay-Sayers are still alive and well I see

Very optimistic. FF out of power. SF exposed. Public expenditure coming under control. Closer to getting sovereignty back. Even the weather is better.

Happy days.

We are the bottom of a deep dark hole, and whilst we don’t seem to be getting any deeper, the shower of dimwits at the top with the torch are running low on batteries.

We have no money of our own. We need more money to grow the economy. Therefore we need foreign investment. Simples!

Things are picking up

We all agreed that the country needed to change , but its hard to be optimistic when one see’s the way in which the country is changing.
There are thousands of great business ideas out there and a lot of very talented Irish people capable of turning them into realities , to a large degree it is the state holding them back , one quick change that could create a lot of new jobs would be to adjust the PRSI system allowing self employed people to pay enough into the system to qualify for job seekers allowance if their business fails , the lack of a “safety net” is the main obstacle holding people back from attempting new company set up as no sane person who is married with kids is going to allow themselves to get into a situation where they and their partner and kids end up homeless and without any welfare support no matter how good their business plan is , for many of the best commercial ideas out there at present this is the case , risk of ending up penniless and without support in the event of failure is too great.
Not a lot of money would fix this in the short term and I believe provide a massive profit to the economy as a whole in the long term.

For things to improve, people need to e optimistic and spend money!

100% less optimistic lol no one even wants to vote on it what will the referendum be like?

It’s a desperate state of affairs and the answers are wrong to the question. No, I am not optimistic.

Not overly optimistic after the Germans revealed that we may need an emergency budget soon.

I think what’s wrong is credit is now gone. People don’t use their cash. Not credit cards or personal loans.. And we need to revise the economic figures to reflect that and our population has somewhat shrunk. So economic stats are not really comparing like for like.