ABSTRACT
Irish society has undergone some dramatic changes since the emergence of its 'Celtic tiger' economy in the early 1990s. In tandem with the rapid growth of Ireland's economy at the turn of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have been a number of observable changes in the social conditions and general lifestyle patterns of the population. Consumerism, in both its ideological and material aspects, was established relatively late in Ireland; prior to the first economic expansion of the 1960s the dominant political beliefs and lifestyle aspirations could be characterized as a form of 'ascetic developmentalism'. A critical examination of Irish identity has certainly featured in a number of documentaries broadcast on Irish television over the past decade, and, by generally adopting a self-reflexive mode of presentation, have called into question many of the received linear narratives of nationalist ideologies. Certain types of Irish music have also been exposed and 'showcased' through a series of grand narrative texts and exhibitions.
