What Worries You? Ireland 1968

Dubliners discuss what makes them anxious and the impact worrying about real or potential problems has on their lives.

The faster pace of life experienced by Dubliners is a cause of worry for many of the people interviewed. Many Irish people have moved from a rural tradition to an industrialised and urbanised society. This faster pace of life and the pressures of time that come with it are a source of worry.

The calendar, the alarm clock, the telephone, the timetable are beginning to take more and more precedence over the more leisurely procedure of former times.

One man find himself working when trying to sleep at night. He worries he has not achieved all he set out to do during his day at work.

Life is geared for speed now.

This faster pace of life means can bring on heart attacks, stomach ulcers and nervous breakdowns, something

Our rural ancestors certainly didn’t suffer from.

However one man believes stress levels in Ireland are much lower than those found in England or America.

The cost of living and employment are also a cause of worry to many people. The biggest worry to a trades man in Dublin is the thought of a slump and the uncertainty of the building industry.

Another man also worries about money and work.

But if I’m working now, a few pints at the weekend, I’m alright.

A student is more philosophical about worry, considering it is relative,

What worries me, might not worry you.

A woman who is nearly 70 years old does not bother about worrying.

I don’t worry too much, I suspect I’m on my way out.

This episode of ‘Newsbeat’ was broadcast on 20 March 1968. The reporter is Cathal O’Shannon.