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AT THE END of the year, in the mix of Christmas fun and joy, many of us may be feeling a sense of flatness, apathy or disillusionment, best explained by cognitive dissonance —the tension between beliefs and lived reality.
This is a psychological theory describing the tension individuals experience when their beliefs, values, expectations, or view of the world conflict with the lived reality.
To better understand this tension, it is necessary to look back and analyse the stories which resonated with the public.
Across 2024, the Core Research Cultural Index surveyed 12,000 Irish adults to uncover the news stories that had the greatest impact this year. Out of 240 stories analysed, global politics, societal challenges and conflicts emerged as the most significant. These events not only dominated public discourse but also highlighted the cognitive dissonance many people are grappling with.
The most significant story of 2024 was the US Presidential Election, with 71% of Irish adults stating it had an impact on them. The re-election of Donald Trump, predicted by only 34% at the start of the year (Core’s PREDICT 2024, January 2024), shocked many and raised questions about American democracy.
Similarly, the European Parliament’s conservative shift unsettled Irish observers, challenging expectations of stability in European politics.
The ongoing assault on Gaza ranked as another significant story, with 68% of Irish adults citing its profound effect. For many, the atrocities in the region highlighted a deep disillusionment with global institutions like the UN and EU, which are perceived as failing to resolve the crisis.
This situation underscores the gap between the humanitarian values many hold and the harsh realities of international conflict.
This frustration was also reflected in anti-immigration protests in Ireland, which ranked as the fourth most significant story of the year. These protests revealed tensions surrounding Ireland’s immigration policies, housing and infrastructure, challenging the nation’s “Céad míle fáilte” self-image as a welcoming society, and bringing into question the impact of the far-right and racist movement in Ireland.
The housing crisis remains a pressing concern. In 2024, 61% of adults highlighted the growing issue of homelessness, which has climbed to 15,000 people — a sharp increase from 3,625 in 2015. However, public concern has waned slightly, with 66% of adults in 2015 viewing homelessness as a significant issue compared to 61% today, despite the worsening situation.
As well as crime, road safety and mental health, gender equality and justice were also key themes of the year. High-profile cases of violence against women served as a stark reminder of the work still needed to achieve true equality. While on one hand, politicians and economists talk about Ireland’s strong economy, on the other there is significant public engagement with challenges facing society.
Despite feeling somewhat content and financially secure, many Irish people struggle with a disconnect between their aspirations and harsh realities. Political bickering, inadequate housing plans and inaction on climate amplify this tension.
Social media exacerbates this by exposing individuals to overwhelming or conflicting information, often leading to disengagement or retreat into echo chambers. While some act to align with their beliefs, others downplay inconsistencies.
Unchecked, this dissonance risks societal paralysis, undermining efforts to address critical challenges. To counter this, fostering spaces — through culture, communities and sport — can empower individuals to process conflicts and act toward shared goals.
Culture, community groups and sport offered Irish people spaces to confront realities and imagine alternative futures, bridging present challenges with hope for tomorrow.
Throughout 2024, culture and sport served as vital beacons of hope, amid challenging headlines. These spaces not only provide entertainment but also offer the public a means to imagine a better, more inclusive world. They act as platforms for the expression of values that resonate deeply within Irish society.
Captivating audiences with music and activism, Kneecap had a breakout year, touring globally, releasing a new album, alongside an Oscar nominated film. Their decision, along with other Irish acts like Lankum, CMAT and the Pillow Queens, to boycott festivals associated with companies linked to the Israeli Defence Forces, highlighted the powerful role of artists as cultural ambassadors.
This advocacy extended to sports, with the Palestinian national Women’s Football team playing against Bohemian Football Club in a historic summer match. Such moments of solidarity underscored the intersection of culture, politics and humanitarian values, reflecting the perspectives of many within Irish society.
The Paris Olympics and Paralympics were another public highlight of 2024. Irish athletes excelled, earning a remarkable medal haul that showcased their dedication and talent. Among the standout achievements were Ireland’s swimmers, boxers and athletes, which inspired a renewed sense of pride and optimism across the nation.
In film, Irish actors gained international acclaim. Cillian Murphy’s Best Actor win at the Oscars was a crowning achievement, and alongside him, Paul Mescal and Saoirse Ronan also delivered standout performances in films that tackled complex themes. The creative work explored issues of perception and personal struggle, bringing challenging narratives to Irish and global audiences.
As we move into 2025, the lessons of 2024 point to a critical need for spaces that help people reconcile the contradictions of their time. Cognitive dissonance arises from clashing values, expectations and realities. We can not ignore the truths of the world, the public sentiment and the sense of flatness that many are feeling.
Communal spaces — through art, culture and gatherings — help people process these tensions, transforming disillusionment into dialogue and inertia into action. Prioritising these spaces in 2025 can empower society to address challenges with collective hope and agency.
In a complex world, investing in culture, community, and sport in 2025 is not merely a nice-to-do — it’s transformative. These spaces don’t just enrich lives; they ignite collective action and inspire meaningful change.
Finian Murphy is a Researcher and Strategist focused on public sentiment, culture and communities.
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What about the kitchen ?
The normal reason that tips are divided up is to ensure that all staff members get a share of the tip. Chefs train for five years and make or break an establishment dividing up the share is to ensure that the most skilled people are rewarded as opposed to the the part time person who has no real skills bar carrying a plate.
This is not a new thing tips have always been shared both with the front of house and the back of house. I have seen records dating back two hundred years of a five star hotel with the tip or service charge being shared among the entire team and not just the least skilled person on the team.
Seems like a bill for an industry created by people who do not understand how the industry works.
@brian boru: or we could just pay proper wages so people don’t need to survive on tips. Works well in Australia.
@brian boru: waiters have much more skill than “carrying a plate” it’s not just the chef who will make or break the restaurant it’s a whole team. You need everybody on the same level of skill.
Leave things the way they are. This will open up a can of worms. The goverment will see these tips as a form of income and tax the life out of it.
@luke mc leod: Yea but in comparison to cooking the meal carrying the plate ain’t too tough….sorry and the cutlery – I agree its a team effort that is why the tips are shared among the team and not just the server
@brian boru: would the chef not be on a big salary all ready ?. I don’t think a chef needs to share tips or anyone on a good salary. Tips should be for the waitimg staff who are often part time and on minimum wage.
@brian boru: but would a chef not be on more money than the waiting staff?
@brian boru: but would a chef not be on more money than the waiting staff?
@Declan Mannix: if you wanna be a chef for the money you have to rethink, work 80+ hours a week for your contracted 39 hour salary.
This is a huge movement which has led to restaurants closing two/three days a week to give chefs a break and take down the hours worked
@brian boru: they do more, the wines, the ordering and professionalism to the customer. They always get the wrap of doing f all but in reality their job is tough at times.
@brian boru:
I’ve been a Chef for over 30 years- Tips always went to the waiting staff!
I’ve been Head Chef of many Hotels and Restaurants and never got a share of the tips- occasionally a customer would like to buy the Chef a drink and some regulars did this- but generally Skilled Chefs are paid far more and waiting staff are paid a pittance!
I never had a problem with waiting staff getting the tips!
In fact Waiting staff in the better restaurants and hotels are extremely skilled!
I worked in 2 different 5☆ establishments in Copenhagen as a Chef- the waiting staff had mainly all trained as Chefs for 3 1/2 years and then trained as waiters for 2 1/2 years- 6 years in college and also time in the field- these waiters got the best jobs in the highest class establishments!
Most restaurants now share tips with the kitchen. The problem here is that some owners and management are practically stealing the tips. ” no real skills bar carrying a plate” and “the least skilled person”? You obviously have never worked in the industry and have no clue how it operates really.
The chefs are on good wages brian boru , the wait staff & kitchen porters are not.
@SteveW: Your obviously an idiot if you think that steve
Absolutely The Guru but our government don’t have the balls to raise the minimum wage to a decent level because their friends in business would be up in arms.
Wow name calling. Stay classy Brian lol
@David Grey: well said David Grey, an informed comment. Anyone who thinks the role of the server is irrelevant is an idiot, but it is the most precarious job and if they deliver good service there is no way the employer should interfere. A tip is recognition by the customer of good service, offered voluntarily so that it always represents a job well done
@brian boru: there’s been many times I’ve tipped waiting staff because of the service they’ve provided. I would never tip if the food was great but I got terrible service, and vice versa, I’ve tipped if the food was awful, but the waiting staff was top notch. Chefs and head chefs are on a salary compared to part time minimum wage for waiting staff. Personally I think this is a positive move.
@luke mc leod: Most chefs have made carrying a plate of food very easy this days. They hide behind the scam of fine diner and the customers fool for it everyday.
What about the lads who wash the dishes? Lads on shocking money doing horrible work. I did it for a while. You’re the lowest of the low in there. Chefs screaming at you. These lads are well entitled to a share of tips.
And soon to follow will be mandated taxation of tips.
@Nick Allen: I worked at hairdressing over 30 years ago and on my wages were taxed for other earnings, when this was asked about in the tax office,i was told i was being taxed on tips!!!
Not sure when tipping became a big thing. I’m the states it’s literally the staffs wages . In Ireland you pay for a wage through the food prices and wait staff get tips again. You don’t tip in a shop or anywhere else really.
@Harlowe Brendan: *in the states
@Harlowe Brendan: True. It’s a global thing to tip the waiter and if you don’t you might look cheap. I know much harder jobs that don’t get tips. Mark Zuckerberg didn’t leave a ip on his honeymoon in Italy an that was all over online media haha
@Harlowe Brendan: not really getting your point if there is one. Are you saying no one should tip?
@Deborah Behan: not in countries where a living wage is factored into the food prices.
I am sick to the back teeth of the tipping culture. Why should I feel guilt if I don’t slip somebody some extra money for providing a service I paid for?
Why not just pay people a decent wage for doing a job?
Why do we encourage employment outside the tax net?
I know many will think I’m pettty but why shouldn’t all income be subject to tax, if taxable.
@Tom Burke: Not petty at all! I totally agree with you! in what other area would the customer be expected to supplement the wages of employees just because an employer won’t pay them a fair wage.
it’s nowhere near as bad as america but same principle applies!
@KM TON: but they do pay them a relatively fair wage (keyword being relatively). For every restaurant paying minimum wage there’s at least one shop doing the same, with no tips to be “deprived” of in the first place. If we consider the equally skilled sector of retail a fair wage at minimum, then waiting staff aren’t been paid unfairly by earning the same with no tips.
When you leave a Tip with your credit card the owners get to keep it .im fed up of this American culture of tipping it destroyed a good meal .my pal never tops so I’m doing sane
Tips are discretionary depending on the service given by the waiting staff. Totally agree this is a direct payment to the said staff.
No longer support establishments that quote service charge as I really question this.
Yes, great idea, just get it done. I look forward to coming back here later to see how everyone tries to justify denying employees the tips given to them, to keep, as a reward for their good work
@Brian Masterson: I agree. but it’s a SF proposal and you can be sure FG with the help of FF will block it.
@Brian Masterson: Does the customer have to pay that bit extra because their employers won’t pay a decent wage.
Here another for our collection of badly written and misleading headlines from The Journal.
Brian us right.The kitchen staff (chefs and dishwasher staff)should be included as a team.
Remember customers DO come back if the food is right and the place is clean.
They are the backbone of the restaurant so it’s not just waiting staff ok.
Share tips for all who prepare the meal before it goes to the table,only right.
@Gerry Fallon: chefs are already on good wages . Same as the managers .. they don’t need to share the tips . It should be for the staff on minimum wages .
You don’t have to leave a tip, if you do it should go to the person intended. We all tend to forget that the hospitality industry enjoys 9% vat, yet staff are badly paid, no prospects and very poor conditions. Imagine working a nine hours day with just thirty minutes break, even that is at the behest of management.
I worked in catering for years and I remember management taking half of our tips, their excuse was that if they hadn’t hired us then we would have the chance and opportunities to make tips.
If they were paid a proper wage there would be no need for tips.
Some employers are paying proper wage .. a lot of customers will still leave a tip though ..
@Colm Mcmahon: Good Christ! Double rip off
My brother has a restaraunt in America.people come into him all the time willing to work for 3/4 dollars an hour and they said they will make their wages on tips.
I don’t think your brother should be allowed to get away with paying 3 or 4 dollars per hour dick dastardly. Is there no minimum wage in America?
@Trisha Tully: my brother don’t take on any staff,he runs it by himself.what I’m saying is people are coming into him looking for a job offering themselves to work for that price and tell him they will make up a weeks wage in tips.
@Trisha Tully:
There are 2 sets of minimum wage in USA, one for regular workers and one for restaurant servers. Latter is typically a ‘shift pay’ or a much lower hourly rate based on the expected tips servers earn. (When I was a waiter in New York in the late 1980s it was $15 per shift ! )
Tip means ‘to insure promptness’ by service staff.
Tips should be shared by customer facing staff, (servers/bussers/bartenders).
Maitre D/Host Tips are given to them separately.
Restaurant management should keep their greedy hands off tips and also should pay the kitchen team a fair and appropriate amount, and not rely on tips.
PS. If I stay at a nice hotel for a week or so I tip bellman up front .. Guess who gets the best and most responsive service then !!
@Roland Kelly. Thanks for that clarification Roland. I think Tom Burke is right in that customers should not be expected to supplement low wages. Like I said in an earlier comment the government needs to increase the minimum wage to a decent level.
Front of house should tip the kitchen out.Tipping is not a big thing in Ireland anyway!!I work in hospitality in Canada a different ball game altogether to Irish tipping standards.Tipping can be a pain for customers…….Regarding carrying a plate to a table is it…Wrong,you gotta meet,greet,sell products…..Have excellent product knowledge….Deal with customer complaints, represent the place you work at.
Irish and Australian folk are not the best tippers out here,but when in another country you have to follow the ethicate regarding tipping and cultures etc.
If I were working in an environment where a customer feels like they want to tip me then that tip is mine. If an employer tried to take the said tip the next thing I would give him is a tip all for himself. Greedy Greedy employers. Only a humbag would take tips from staff
Don’t bother tipping, unless you get excellent, and I mean excellent, service. From my experience most waiting staff in Ireland are just going through the motions.
where i work, 12 1/2 % is charged as “service charge.
the staff do not see any of this!!!
Another finger in the pie for the revenue slave masters on the horizon
I hate the fact that I have to agree with a Shinner proposal, but I hate the fact that the tips line the pockets of restauranteurs more, so I hope it passes
It’s disgraceful that employees should have to rely on tips. Employers should pay them living wages.
I leave a tip if the food and service are good. Good manners to do so I think. Each to their own
There is no reason why waiting staff should get tips? Unless some person wants to give them or we re in USA. Tipping house cleaning is ok for me as they do a much harder job. It’s not like the waiting staff needs a masters degree and is payed 9-10e an hour!
I don’t like tips…..
My thinking is – I’ve paid the full price of the meal. That should be enough.
And yes I do tip because I know people depend on them.
My problem is if the resturant wants it’s staff to rely on tips – why not just adjust the meal price up by a typical tip.
As in pay an official price – ie what it says on the Menu that is the same as what you’d have paid if you tipped.
I never tip. I know it sounds horrible but all it does is encourage employers to pay less meanng the staff have to rely on the customer to pay their wage. How about a law that protects staff from being criminally underpaid?
Also, where are the tips for people who work in retail when they help you find something or are particularly nice at the till? It sounds like a ridiculous notion but we don’t question it when jt’s applied to wait staff.
When I worked in retail I would be on minimum wage. Never saw a tip. I do when the service is good but if the service is far from ok. I don’t. Most ppI know are on the same wage.
Also I used to share a flat with a lady who used to be paid cash, it was her choice to work there but on the other hand she didn’t pay any taxes. Cash in hand every week. Reason why she could only work 20 hours due to her visa but used to work more than 40 so she had to work in a restaurant that would not put some staff through the books.
In the states people tip because of wage inequality. Here there is a minimum wage. And restaurant are not the only ones on it. You have most of the retail sector, bar staff, and lots of hard working employees and they are not even close to getting a tip.
Just legislate a decent minimum wage and wait staff won’t have to cadge tips.
@Declan Mannix: the truth is somewhere in between. I know lots of chefs that are on the minimum level, or maybe 10/hour. Skills should be paid, I agree, that’s why the tips has to be shared. As well, the kitchen shifts aren’t always 8h long, most of times you work 12-14 h shifts with no break even to have a meal. Sounds crazy, but it’s the truth. I know waiters who work 35h and make the same money as a chef who works 60, so that’s not fair either. It has to be a team work for a restaurant to make money, and that includes the tips as well
Hi all.so my problem is sharing tips with a kitchen staff.they should be paid way more cause it is a mastercraft really.now i am very good at my job.i am a waiter.i use my skills such as knowledge of food and wine,my personality,proffesionalism etc.small example-customer wasnt happy with smth,i took care of him,moved him to a different table and so on.in the end he gives me a tip and says its for u,thank u for taking care of me and yr exellent service.mind u its one out of hundred examples.so WHY should i give share of that tip to anyone???!!!i am pretty sure i would get f…all if just said hello and served like a robot.
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