After the good times, ordinary people face the bill for Irish boom and bust

Having asked for a multi-billion pound international loan to help its ailing banks, the Irish government has unveiled a raft of spending cuts and tax rises which is expected to save the state 13bn. But all this comes at a cost, with the loss of 24,750 public sector jobs, a reduction in the minimum wage by one euro and a VAT hike to an eye-watering 24 per cent by 2014. So even if festive spending holds up this year, the ghost of Christmas Future is likely to haunt shoppers and retailers alike.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen said he hoped the plan would "bring certainty to our people to make sure they have hope for the future", although where that future will be is open to question. Unemployment in Ireland is at 13 per cent, but perhaps more significantly a third of under-25s are out of work and it is the young, including many graduates, who are most likely to leave as the Celtic Tiger's cubs look for work abroad. It's estimated that more than 100,000 people will leave by 2014, with Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the UK among the favoured destinations, which is likely to hamper plans to kickstart the economy.

Ireland's plight has been well documented, going from an unprecedented boom to almost bust in the space of just three years. Much of the growth was built around the property market, but since 2008 this has suffered a dramatic collapse and in many cases house values have plummeted by as much 60 per cent which has meant bad debts, usually in the form of loans to developers, have built up in the country's main banks.

During the past decade large numbers of ex-pats returned to Ireland eager to take advantage of the country's new-found wealth. Dave Sugden moved from Leeds to County Wexford with his wife Sheila and their two young children in February last year. "My wife comes from Ireland originally and her family all moved back there during the 'boom' over the last 10 years. They were originally living in Yorkshire and America, but they all came back and we were the last to 'return home'," he says.

Dave works for a credit finance firm and was concerned about uprooting his family. "We moved after the bubble had burst over there although for me it was more like moving into a new office, rather a new job. But before we moved I had to seek assurances about my job security because otherwise we wouldn't have considered moving," he says. "We were renting at first but bought a house earlier this year, although it was very difficult to do so as the banks had all but stopped lending."

But while he and his wife are now happily settled in Ireland not everyone has been so fortunate. "I know quite a few people that have lost their jobs, friends that I've made since arriving here in Ireland," he says. "My wife's brother and sister bought houses at their peak and her brother is talking about moving back to Yorkshire due to job losses at his company, the biggest employer in his area. But a lot of people's hands are tied because they have mortgages, houses, family and schools so it's not that easy to move."

He says the jobs pages of his local weekly newspaper are an indication of how bad the situation has become.

"Since we came over I've noticed that it's been running less than half a page of adverts for local jobs a week and sometimes even just a single advert."

The mood among people is a mixture of anger and despondency. "The Irish news regularly features stories of mass emigration and the government themselves announced that their budget forecasts were based on a further 100,000 emigrating the country. It's a very raw subject for people seeing generations forced to leave their homeland."

Jenny McArdle, who works for a voluntary organisation supporting the Irish community in Leeds, paints a similarly gloomy picture. She moved from Ireland to Cawood, near York, a year ago after becoming engaged.

"People think it's bad here but it's twice as bad over in Ireland. It's so sad because the country was doing so well and it's frightening how a small number of individuals at the top can make a few bad decisions that end up affecting so many people," she says. "When I speak to friends and family over there you realise what dire straits some people are in. My best friend was in a job where the contract was coming to an end and she has just moved to New Zealand. I can't think of one person from my circle of friends who hasn't been affected. They have either had their hours cut, lost their jobs, or had their wages frozen."

The collapse of the property market was the key factor in the Irish banking crisis with some properties sold for 1m a few years ago now going for as little as 250,000.

But while lenders were quick to provide gargantuan loans, too many people were prepared to saddle themselves with debt. "They got carried away," says Jenny. "It became normal to build four and five-bedroom houses for two people and have two new cars parked outside, and now we're seeing people fall into negative equity."

Sam Wheeler, a former Yorkshire Post reporter, moved to Dublin in August 2008, to be with his girlfriend. "When we first moved over here we rented a place and after a couple of months our rent dropped. In some cases rent prices, especially for flats, fell by 200 euros a month, so it quickly became evident that the property bubble had burst," he says.

During the property boom, luxury flats were built along Dublin's waterside, while developers built shiny new out-of-town housing estates. But what were once symbols of Ireland's new-found prosperity have since become a financial albatross.

"There are empty flats all over the place," says Sam. "Property developers spent huge amounts of money building these ghost estates and flats and no-one has bought them. Commuter villages sprung up but some of them were two hours drive away from Dublin and there was no infrastructure to support them."

Sam, who worked as a freelance journalist for 15 months before securing a full-time contract, says while some people have prospered in recent years many others have been left with debt. "There are farmers that sold their land to developers who became multi-millionaires during the property boom, but a lot people have been hit hard."

The grim austerity measures go before Parliament on December 7, but Sam says people are already braced for the dark days ahead. "Everyone realises it's going to be tough but most people seem to accept that it's what has to be done."

The country's debt crisis has hit people from all walks of life and even big sporting events, like recent Ireland's rugby union match against New Zealand, aren't immune. "The All Blacks game wasn't sold out which a few years ago would have been unheard of, you wouldn't have been able to get tickets unless you knew someone, and it's definitely down to money.

"People are much more worried about pensions and they aren't spending as much money as conspicuously as they used to."

But people still want to let their hair down. "There have been a few restaurants that have closed but if you go to the pubs and bars in Dublin people are still out enjoying themselves, because life goes on."

Ireland's austerity plan

The Irish government has unveiled a range of tough measures as part of a four-year plan to help the country's ailing economy.

The recovery plan outlines plans to cut 24,750 public sector jobs.

The minimum wage will be reduced by one euro to 7.65 euros an hour.

VAT will rise to 22 per cent in 2013 and 24 per cent the following year.

It also plans to introduce a property tax, called a site value tax, which will cost homeowners up to 200 euros a year by 2014.The plan will cost Irish taxpayers 20 euros a week and is expected to save the state 15bn euros (13bn).

It has pledged to reduce unemployment below 10 per cent by 2014.