`All around me were faces in sullen concentration, faces in empty conversation, faces coughing wetly into Evening Herald situation vacant pages and faces set in the pragmatic resolution which was the only heroism of the times. The bus seemed full that grey evening of the hopeless and the doomed, certainly full of everything I never wanted to be . . . '

from Is That It? by Bob Geldof (1986)

Fifteen years ago, with unemployment at 15 per cent, the options for young twentysomethings in Ireland were limited. Many went abroad; others resigned themselves to earning a pittance. A few managed to do well in professions such as accountancy. But no one would have dreamed of owning a Mercedes and earning over £100,000 a year.

How times have changed. Nowadays, in your twenties, you can have it all: the Merc, the hundred grand, the lovely house. All it takes is confidence, energy and determination, because we're talking a 70-hour week.

In other ways nothing much has changed at all, because there are still jobs for twentysomethings that involve tons of talent and commitment, but relatively little money. Teaching and arts administration may involve plenty of job satisfaction, but they aren't going to bring in the bacon if you want to own your own home. And the law may offer riches, but young barristers in their twenties face a seven-year period of penury before they begin to break even. As for nursing, the need to bring in 500 nurses from the Philippines speaks volumes about the job's appeal for young Irish women.

Here a range of twentysomethings talk about what they are getting out of their careers.

Amy O'Hanlon (24), administrator of Barrabas Theatre Company, Dublin Earnings: £14,040 per year

I work 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. five days a week, more when things get busy in pre-production. I'm given days in lieu rather than overtime for that. When we're not in production, the days are nice and short: we leave at 5 p.m. At any one time we have two or three projects on the go. I oversee contracts, liaise with theatre venues, do media work and research the artistic director's ideas.

I love my job, it's very exciting, I meet very talented and creative people. I'm doing an Arthouse course in website construction, paid for by the company. Last year when The Whiteheaded Boy went on tour to the US, I went to the opening in New York. For the arts world, my wage is very fair. I only had six weeks' work experience before I started here, two years ago, as assistant administrator. My responsibilities have been increasing all the time since then, and I see myself here for the long term. I'm 24, I don't need a car or a house. I could save for a holiday, but I'm crap at saving. I have a good lifestyle, I can do what I want, really.

Padraig O Regan (26), from Kerry, teacher in Schull National School, Co Cork Earnings: £16,100 per year

I've been qualified for two years and I've spent that time teaching here in Schull. The job satisfaction is great. The 180 kids here are from all walks of life, and as their teacher I'm a mixture of psychologist, parent, judge and handyman. I'm finished work at 3 p.m. but I'm rarely out of the school until 4 p.m. and then in the evening I have correcting and preparation to do. The wages don't reflect my effort and time.

I'm managing OK, because I don't own anything! It is easy to rent one of the holiday homes here - it's £90 a week in the winter. I don't stay for the summer when it goes up to £450 a week. If I want a place of my own, I'll have to move inland to somewhere cheaper and buy a site and build. Schull is too "beautiful"; the locals can't afford to buy houses here any more. I get frustrated when I compare myself to friends who went into careers like engineering on a starting salary of £20,000.

My salary, even though it's going up by 20 per cent in the autumn, is still less than that. They get extra perks and bonuses, which I don't. I don't even have the chance to work overtime. Last summer I had to get a part-time job in the black economy to earn a bit extra.

"Peter"(26), estate agent in Dublin Earnings: "People in my line of work are expected to earn in the region of £30,000 a year. Depending on commission, you can do a lot better"

I studied auctioneering and went straight into this job. I got in at the right time, because the business is booming. I work long hours: I'm in at 8 a.m. and not finished until 7.30 p.m. I work Saturdays too. I get shattered. The hardest thing is trying to please; you're putting your best foot forward all the time. People can be very rude and difficult. There are cases when you just can't please enough. I suppose it's natural, I'm selling people's biggest investment. If something goes wrong, they are bound to get worried.

The perks of the job are several: I'm not deskbound, I'm meeting people all the time, I'm looking at lovely houses. My pay goes up each year. The longer you stay in the company, the more respect and responsibility you are given. A lot of my friends are in e-commerce, but this is a more stable job. People will always buy and sell houses, even in bad times. I'm doing better than a lot of people, the way I've set myself up. I have a house in Killiney and a BMW. But I'd love to go away for a year, just to do something different, maybe live in Australia. While I still can.

Siobhan Ni Chulachan (28), trainee barrister, Dublin Earnings: £300 since October 1999 for work at the bar; surviving on extra work in the evenings, editing and "anything I can get my hands on"

It takes barristers seven years to break even, what with debts to pay off and living expenses. There is a 35 per cent dropout rate during the first 10 years. But I'm very committed and my elder sister is a barrister, so I knew what to expect. I'm only just qualified so I'm earning almost nothing. Luckily I'm single so I have the time to do extra work - editing, mostly - to make some money in the evenings. I don't go out much because I haven't got any money - I'm too exhausted anyway, between extra work at night and the steep learning curve I'm on while I'm devilling.

I worked in IT as a technical writer to earn the money to get a mortgage and pay my fees for my evening course at Kings Inns. I never wanted to stay in IT. I love what I'm doing now, it's exciting - an all-hands-on job. I'm learning a lot from the barrister who is training me this year - his area is criminal law and that's what interests me the most. I know it's hard for people to believe that barristers can earn so little. There are a few that do exceptionally well, rather like in rock music there is U2. But I'm still a busker! Next year I'll be out on my own. I don't know how much I'll earn. I'll probably pick up some District Court work, but it will take a while before I build up a reputation.

"Shane" (29), sales consultant in e-commerce in Dublin Earnings: £100,000 a year on average; sometimes more: "I have shares in the company and that helps"

I work an average of between 60 and 70 hours a week. I love what I do, it's exciting. Sometimes it's exhausting, but I'm in my twenties, it's the stage of life when you have the energy but no family commitments. You can take more risks because you have less to lose. If you have an idea, you can just go for it. I work hard and there's a lot of pressure. The money is nice, even though I still can't afford half the houses on the market! I do own a house - I was fortunate to get into the market reasonably early - and I have a Mercedes, which I always wanted.

I studied business at university, and I've been working in the IT industry for five or six years. I just fell into it and I've become very successful. Some of what is involved in our work in web infrastructural solutions has never been done before. I compare it to the construction industry - what we are designing is the equivalent of the foundations of skyscrapers. You don't have to be hyper-intelligent to do this work, just have the confidence and will to go for what you want. I've been fortunate in that the economy is good now, but I think even if the economy flopped, I would survive.

Yvonne O'Callaghan (23), nurse, from Cork, based in Dublin Earnings: £15,500 per year

I work for an agency, three 12-hour shifts a week, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., mostly caring for the elderly. It's physically hard work and I have to work quickly. By the end of the day I'm exhausted and I have a sore back. There is some satisfaction because it's nice to see people feeling better because of what you're doing. I did think of going into hospice care, but there are only a couple of courses available in this country and they are expensive and hard to get into.

Agency work is best for me because I have more time to study. I qualified a year ago but I realised very quickly that nursing wasn't what I imagined. I've started a course in personnel management and industrial relations at night. My friends are all the same, we want to get out of nursing. It may be permanent and pensionable, but there are no perks, no company car, the pay isn't enough if you want to buy a house, and there are no childcare facilities for working mothers. I'd prefer a job in human resources management or personnel management. Anyone working in the public sector wants the perks, promotion, income and flexibility of people in the private sector.