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ON THE FIRST episode of the new Irish version of The Traitors last night, the contestants were asked how they would spend the €50,000 prize.
The most common response won’t surprise anyone in our generation: to put it towards a deposit for a home.
There was little talk of extravagant holidays; the overwhelming focus was on the struggle to fulfill the basic need for a home, a representation of the reality of being a young person in Ireland today.
Even in the spectacle of a game show steeped in fantasy, this response felt more real to those of us in our twenties than what we hear from out-of-touch politicians.
Faced with years-long waiting lists for public housing and some of the weakest tenant protections in Europe, many of us feel purchasing a house is the only route out of our childhood bedrooms or an exploitative private rental market.
Living in Ireland in 2025 be like.. #TraitorsIRL pic.twitter.com/aNDh67TMHI
— RTÉ One (@RTEOne) August 31, 2025
We are referred to by many as ‘a generation locked out’, forced to emigrate because of this single major issue. The reality, however, is much starker. You could end the housing crisis tomorrow and young people would continue to emigrate en masse; it is not just a lack of affordable accommodation pushing us away, but an entire society designed to exclude us. We are not just a generation locked out; we are a generation left behind.
Ultimately, we as young people feel unrepresented. It’s telling that we must rely on reality show contestants on The Traitors or artists such as CMAT to give us a voice; highlighting how rarely we feel included in traditional media and political decision-making.
For years, we’ve called for more focus on nightlife so we can have thriving cities; yet we continue to be deprived of night-time public transport and liberalised nightclub regulations.
We have for years been calling for modern drug reform which helps those of us with addiction issues, instead of criminalising us for any use of drugs on the relatively safer end of the spectrum; yet the conservative war on drugs continues apace and we face a worsening cocaine addiction crisis while other countries introduce non-profit cannabis clubs and decriminalise other drugs.
We demand access to free third level education, the norm across Europe; yet our government recently hiked fees yet again, solidifying our position of having the most expensive third level education in the European Union.
We have cried out for substantial progress fighting climate change; yet Ireland continues to be among the worst per capita polluters in Europe and we seem to be going backwards while facing the prospect of huge fines due to our government’s failure to tackle emissions.
We have cried out for mental health supports in the face of an unrelenting housing crisis and climate crisis, matched with a dearth of affordable education, thriving nightlife, and public transport; yet our government throws a couple of million at the extensive waiting lists and tells us to be grateful.
To make matters worse, once we emigrate, we lose the right to vote out the government which caused us to leave in the first place – in this, we are an outlier in the democratic world, where other citizen emigrants overwhelmingly maintain the right to vote, at least for a few years.
Similarly, other young people who make Ireland home, who endure the same material conditions with housing, public transport, nightlife, and drug laws, are also mostly restricted from voting until they overcome the many barriers required to gain citizenship in order to have any say over the laws everyone must follow, the public services everyone must use, and the taxes everyone must pay.
In effect, the democratic voice in our country is increasingly restricted to wealthier, older, and more conservative homeowners while the rest of us become increasingly left behind or forced abroad. Irish governments use migration as a pressure valve for discontent, restricting the voices of our generation.
The only way to get a deposit for a house nowadays? Apply for #TraitorsIRL and win the €50k cash prize 🤷🏡💰🤣#UncloakedIRL | Airs every night straight after The Traitors Ireland pic.twitter.com/gmfMrCh76Y
— RTÉ One (@RTEOne) September 1, 2025
Facing so many systemic barriers to having our perspective represented, it’s no wonder that scene in The Traitors struck a chord.
Our generation is in a hopeless place. In recent years, it felt like our demands were beginning to be met, at least in minor ways; with the expansion of Local Link and increased public transport funding, the prospect of extended nightlife opening hours and introduction of a basic income for artists, and a strengthening of rent controls in order to somewhat protect our already-stretched incomes.
But these incremental improvements were paired with gaslighting as the government constantly presented what would be considered the bare minimum across the EU as major benefits, and demanded gratitude while our quality of life stagnated or worsened overall. And now that we have a Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael government which is unrestrained by the presence of the Greens, even these tiny gains are in danger.
Our lives have been characterised by crisis – a financial crisis, a housing crisis, a cost of living crisis, a pandemic, and various conflicts permeated with war crimes and genocide, all while our environment slowly collapses around us.
We are in an abusive relationship with our own State; we love a country which clearly doesn’t love us back, and which actively disempowers us; within this context, it’s hardly surprising that we relate to shows like The Traitors which give our generation any bit of a voice.
Ultimately, we crave a country which represents us. A country where our voices aren’t limited to game shows or music, but empowered throughout politics and mainstream media.
As we continue to be forced to emigrate and become disconnected from our home and communities, the contestants in the Traitors give voice to our feelings of hopelessness mixed with longing for a better Ireland where we finally feel represented and where we can finally begin to thrive.
Killian is a Computer Game Designer from Waterford in his twenties who is interested in urban design, accessibility, climate, and housing. He is an independent who ran in the recent local and general elections on a platform to Democratise-Decentralise-Decarbonise.
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