Ireland - a transitory golden age?

Ireland: So backward so recently; so modern so suddenly. My father visited in the late 1950's and the main form of transport in the part of rural Tipperary he visited was still horse and cart. I remember going there in 1990 and in a grand Georgian House close to the centre of Dublin, which had been subdivided into six flats, all had to share a single payphone in the hall. Dublin airport was full of children, testament to a high birth rate and not much to do. Ten years later the country was as rich as the UK, and is now (2008) by many measures richer. It is worrying to think that it is in a golden transition between backwardness and over-developed decadence, combining the best of the old ways - friendliness, courtesy, respect for society, with a modern economic dynamism. Someday, goes this strand of thought, the bad side of the modern world will intrude: the "me" culture, lots of divorce, contempt for society, drugs, gangs and a large angry underclass. Who will flip Ireland's burgers when the current generation is no longer grateful just for having a job? Hopefully this is too pessimistic and the country will find a way keep the best of its past while continuing to have a modern and prosperous economy.