"Irish people are getting used to wealth now and while there are still plenty of 'bling' spenders about, there is increasing evidence that we are becoming more mature about money and moving out of the 'nouveau riche' bracket, " said Gerald O'Neill, chief executive of Amarach Consulting which reports on future trends in Irish society.

"But this emerging philanthropy is different to just writing a cheque, " he told the Sunday Tribune. "Irish people now want a more hands-on involvement in charity work like Niall Mellon travelling to South Africa to replace the shanty towns with new houses. There are over 30,000 millionaires in the country now and it seems that having accumulated considerable wealth, they are now prepared to share it."

While some might regard such a trend as status-driven, O'Neill said it runs deeper than this. "Our newfound wealth is affecting our value system and this move towards a more active philanthropy will accelerate in the years ahead." Yet, while our maturing value system will benefit charities, it may have the opposite effect on Ireland's politicians.

"A recent EU survey showed that more Irish people than any other member state were happy with the direction their country was going, " said O'Neill. Amarach's own research found most people felt they themselves were the key ingredient in their graduation to the top of the world wealth league, and now don't want politicians to "interfere".

"Irish people want politicians to do less, " he said, adding that this would be a steep learning curve for TDs who, to date, judged their chances of election based on what they do, not what they don't do.

O'Neill was more diplomatic about predicting the outcome of the general election this summer.

"The winner will be whoever promises not to rock the boat."

The pursuit of leisure time and cutting out the daily commute will also be high on the agenda. "More and more people will quit the rat run . . . not the rat race, " said O'Neill. In a recent Amarach survey, almost one in four people said they intended to change jobs this year. The main motivator by far was not money or status but to cut down commuting.

"Traffic is a big issue and in the next few years there will be a very significant redistribution of the population as more and more people move out of the cities, " said O'Neill.

"While it is virtually impossible that one quarter of the Irish workforce will change job, the high numbers show that the boom has made Irish people more confident that they can easily change job if they want to.

Our increasing prosperity means we are becoming less frightened of taking a risk and this will have a significant impact on Irish society in the years ahead."