In mid-2008 there were over 800 archaeologists working in Irish Archaeology, by mid-2009 there were less than 80. The rippling effects of the 2008 financial crisis caused a 90% unemployment rate for archaeologists, and shows how quickly we can go from boom to bust. We lost a huge number of experienced and skilled archaeologists, most of whom retrained in order to weather the financial crisis, and never returned to the industry. By 2014, wages remained low. Site Assistants were paid as low as €8.75 per hour, Supervisors as low as €11, and Site Directors as low as €13.75. During this period, the Unite – Archaeology (ROI) Branch was initially set up. For two years, just two people, Jean O’Dowd and the late Dr. Eileen Reilly. tirelessly recruited members to the budding union, and by 2014, they had accrued the 50 members necessary to gain their own independent branch within Unite the Union.

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A year after the official recognition of Unite Archaeology, membership had risen by 60% (to 80 members), and in April 2015, members voted to begin our first campaign – Digging for a Living Wage - aimed at lifting archaeologists out of poverty, through a commitment to refuse to work for any less than the living wage (€11.45p/hr in 2015). Most companies supported the unions efforts, and together, we successfully raised the base rate of pay from €8.75 to €11.45p/hr. Overnight, commercial archaeologists received a 30.8% increase to their wages - from €350 per week to €458 per week.