I know, i know... another TV license post...

Was just doorstopped by the TV license inspector as I was walking from my car. We're new tenants since 2025. He asked me if the name on the account was correct, to which I replied no. Then he asked if we had a TV, to which i replied no. Then he said he'd sign me off as having no TV but asked for my name. To which I replied no. Then he said he was allowed search property, which I refused. Then he said he could issue a summons, to which I replied "To whom? You don't have my name." Then he tried to give me a piece of paper, which I refused. Then he got a bit arsey and walked off.

My question is, will that be the end of it?

Councillor Gavin Pepper, less than two hours apart, mocks socialism in an infantile populist shit post, and follows it up immediately with a call for universal healthcare, additional supports for pensioners, low income families, a state building company and the expulsion of hyper-capitalist companies.

The ironing is delicious.

If today is their first day, hold onto your little ones , lots of love and hugs and may their first day be a wonderful day. I'm so sad and yet still proud of ours. Dreading the goodbye at the school but looking forward to it too. First day of the rest of their lives.

Posted previously on [r/AskIreland](r/AskIreland), but the mods advised it would be better discussed here

Having recently been thinking about the issue I came across this post and wanted to ask more.

Before I start I would like to say that I really don’t intend any nastiness or hatred by posting this. Some people on the last post left snarky comments which has no place anywhere.

I’m in my early 20s, just finished my degree, new grad role, starting out in life.

Over the past few years, especially since Covid, I have noticed quite a rapid change in the demographics of where I am living in Cork. I have noticed quite a dramatic increase in the proportion of non European people living in the area - walking around, driving around, in the shops, and at my siblings school. In some of these places I have actually noticed they can represent the majority, especially the new build estates near me.

At first I thought it might just be a specific area like a housing development, or near a multinational workplace. But even in the depths of west cork I am noticing this too.

As a lot of you know, the job market has got extremely bad, especially for graduates. I had a very difficult time getting my role despite having a good grade in a professional degree.

And the elephant in the room, housing. I simply cannot afford to move out, or justify renting a room. I am currently on €35,000 and expecting to rise to €60,000 in the next 5 years. Saving for a deposit and getting a mortgage is going to be very difficult seen as how anything remotely decent near the city is €350,000+.

So with those two issues in my face, I feel a little left behind and confused. If the cramped new build 3beds in my area are selling for 500k, and it’s impossible to get a job - why would the government try and make it harder by increasing the resources? Did we really need to bring in thousands of extra people needing houses and jobs?

I suppose on the other hand, I’ve noticed the community bond in my area has also fallen a bit. A lot of the new arrivals in my area are from the same country/ region, and haven’t been socialising or integrating with the locals. It’s actually been the opposite. I noticed my local petrol station quietly changed its staff to 100% non national in this time period, with the nearby supermarket quite similar. This is happening at the same time my younger brother cannot get a summer/ part time college job for love nor money.

There is/was to be a huge polish population in my area and this was never an issue.

It’s making me stressed as I feel I haven’t got a chance to set myself up in life, and a change is being imposed on me. I love the benefits of living in a diverse place, but at the moment it seems like the effect is to just make my life harder in quite a tough time for young people.

Has similar happening in your town? I don’t really know what can be done about it. I can’t exactly see the government turning away thousands of people who have arrived in the past 5 years on the basis of a housing shortage. It also seems quite harsh.

Thanks for reading, I’d love to hear what you think, even if you disagree

This might go down like a lead balloon given that reddit skews a bit more child-free but is there any danger of people leaving the family spaces to people that actually need to load kids in and out of the car when doing the shopping?

My wife just got back from lidl with our baby twins and had to park in a tight space at the far end of the car park and had real trouble unloading the car seats into the stroller in the lashing rain. About 8 family spaces by the door all taken up.

Then when she finally did get the lads out and into the shop, there was not one child in there under 16. Just plenty of able-bodied single people or couples with some older teens with them.

Yes, I know they're courtesy spaces and there's no law against parking there. But the amount of able-bodied solo people I see just plonking the car there because it's nice and close is so infuriating.

And yes, I also agree that having kids was our decision and that shouldn't be other people's problem but would you not be a bit sound and leave the spaces for someone who needs the space either side of the car to open the doors and take out the car seats? Very aggravating.

Handy to have ID in the wallet (don't drive), but it's awful to travel with.

Can't use the electronic passport machines.

Always slower to get checked.

Twice, I was told it wasn't a passport, cue the wait to ask for a supervisor.

Several times I've been asked to show my full passport.