Here come the good times . . . apparently!

It has been a pretty busy silly season so far. Newspapers usually struggle to fill their pages with interesting copy during the summer months but this year has been something of an exception, what with the Garth Brooks fiasco, the conflict in Gaza, multiple air disasters and a former politician being sent down for a spell of porridge.

Governments often try to bury bad news when there are a lot of other things happening. But this week we were showered with nothing but positivity. It was like being given a great big hug, with a reassuring whisper in our ear that everything is going to be OK.

•Party time is almost back - but we're still suffering a hangover from the last one. PIC POSED

Indeed, most of the things that have troubled us since the turn of our fortunes in 2008 are about to get back to near normal if the ESRI is correct. Easing fears of a new property bubble, the think-thank reckons that our humble abodes will be worth 20 per cent more by 2017. Not quite back to the Celtic Tiger prices we paid for them but possibly enough to drag most of us out of negative equity. I suspect it will make the option of repossessions more attractive for the banks, too.

Next year should see the creation of 50,000 new jobs and Ireland's unemployment rate will fall below the magic 10 per cent figure. It remains to be seen if the level of wages offered by prospective employers will support an average mortgage repayment. Unlike the heady days of the early noughties, the job seeker of today will be conditioned to accept the new reality when it comes to salary expectations.

We were also told that the Government may revise its growth projections upwards and we are being drip-fed hints that this year's budget may not be as harsh as previously feared. But the reality is that even if Michael Noonan has a bit of wriggle room to feed the taxpayer a few scraps from the table, any such gains will most likely be eroded by water charges and the next LPT payment. As Bertie Ahern would have put it: it's all "smoke and daggers" really.

Some people seem to think that the good times are already here and have started celebrating early. Sales of luxury cars in the 100k-plus bracket are up, according to new figures. And notoriously, one pub in Temple Bar was recently shamed on social media for charging the bones of €20 for two pints of beer and two packets of crisps (in fairness, there was 10 cent change).

But our rip-off culture extends way beyond our city's tourist traps. I was at a community festival earlier this month where I was relieved of over €7 for a hotdog and chips. Note to food stall owners everywhere: putting the word 'gourmet' in front of sausage, burger or pizza does not mean you can charge exorbitant prices for what is, after all, just basic takeaway grub.

When the good times eventually return, we will need to be more vocal when faced with ridiculous prices. So the next time a barman tries to charge you more than €7 for a standard pint, simply walk away and let them try to sell it to some other gullible fool.

It's not my intention to put a dampener on last week's good news. But we can only prepare for the next boom by learning from the mistakes of the old one. And that means being more assertive when it comes to standing up for your rights as a consumer.