Actually the data suggest that the later years of the boom did allow relative poverty to decline in Ireland, at a time when the opposite was happening in many countries (Figure 8). And the corresponding data for 2010 and 2011 suggest that any reversal in this improvement has been small and mainly concentrated among young adults (the data for 2012 are not yet available).
In all of these situations, Americans react with typical aplomb: they prioritize and address the most serious safety and well-being issues first, and they usually are willing to tolerate some inconveniences and delays related to less-critical needs.