Polish minority in Ireland

Polish minority in Ireland
Polish: Polska mniejszość w Irlandii
Total population
93,680
Regions with significant populations
All over Ireland, especially Limerick, Dublin, Portlaoise, Cork, Waterford and Galway.
Languages
Polish, English, sometimes Irish
Religion
Catholic, Polish Orthodox, atheism
Related ethnic groups
Polish diaspora

The Polish minority in Ireland is an ethnic, linguistic, cultural and national minority in the Republic of Ireland. While Poles have lived in Ireland for years, the population rose sharply after Poland's accession to the European Union. Polish citizens in Ireland numbered 93,680 (plus 17,152 people with dual Polish and Irish citizenship), according to 2022 census figures.[1]

History

After Poland joined the European Union in 2004, Ireland was one of three existing EU members to open its borders to Polish workers (the others being the United Kingdom and Sweden). Ireland quickly became a key destination for Poles wishing to work outside the country; in 2004 a website advertising Irish jobs in Polish received over 170,000 views on its first day.[2]

In the period immediately following the 2008 economic downturn, the number of Polish people in Ireland declined,[3] with some reports suggesting that 30,000 were leaving Ireland per year,[4] and the Central Statistics Office reporting a decrease in the number of Polish people applying for PPS numbers.[5]

Polish people living in Ireland can vote in Polish elections. On Election Day there are special ballot stations provided in Belfast, Cork, and Limerick as well as in the country's embassy in Dublin. Consequently, Polish political parties campaign in Ireland for electoral support.[6][7][8]

Polish citizens, as with all other foreigners resident in Ireland, can vote and run as candidates in local Irish elections, even when they do not have Irish citizenship. Nine Polish candidates ran in the municipal election of 2009, nine in 2014, and three in 2019. None managed to win a mandate.[9]

Language and media

As of 2021, Polish is officially an established Senior Cycle subject in post-primary education[10] and hence can be taken as part of the Irish Leaving Certificate examination.

The 2022 census of Ireland found that 123,968 people in Ireland identified as Polish speakers: 63% of these were Polish citizens and 35% were Irish citizens. [11]

The biggest Polish umbrella organization is the Polish Educational Society in Ireland (PESI), a non-profit organisation established in 2012.[12] PESI sponsors Polish supplementary schools in Ireland and widely cooperates with Polish government bodies and organisations working for the maintenance and promotion of the Polish language abroad.

The large number of Poles in Ireland led to the provision of a number of media outlets catering to them. Newspapers: Polska Gazeta[13] and a section in Dublin's Evening Herald entitled "Polski Herald". Dublin cable television channel, City Channel, featured a programme aimed at Poles in Ireland entitled Oto Polska (This is Poland) until the channel closed in 2011.[14]

For online media in Ireland see External links below.

Population Distribution

The following table shows the distribution of Polish citizens across the Republic Ireland over three different censuses.

Distribution of Polish Citizens Across Ireland, 2011 - 2022 [15]
Local Authority 2011 2016 2022
State 122585 122515 93680
Carlow 2275 2275 1875
Dublin City 13406 10704 7215
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown 3541 3143 2088
Fingal 10604 11419 7881
South Dublin 8327 8485 5739
Kildare 7192 7205 5586
Kilkenny 2177 2310 1566
Laois 2300 2728 2298
Longford 1631 1907 1508
Louth 1875 2107 1734
Meath 3876 4470 3942
Offaly 1871 1931 1560
Westmeath 2357 2331 1832
Wexford 4015 3996 3356
Wicklow 2751 2905 2244
Clare 2660 2852 2462
Cork City and Cork County 15915 16276 13007
Kerry 4045 4234 3362
Limerick City and County 6088 5636 4384
Tipperary 4205 4071 3255
Waterford City and County 2250 2330 2058
Galway City 4099 3872 2597
Galway County 3434 3631 2914
Leitrim 763 831 698
Mayo 2934 2802 2131
Roscommon 1360 1367 1227
Sligo 1557 1521 1124
Cavan 1888 2190 1719
Donegal 2104 2003 1609
Monaghan 1085 983 709

Notable people

See also

References

  1. ^ Polacy w Irlandii. Transnarodowe społeczności w dobie migracji poakcesyjnych (EBOOK) PDF | Nauki społeczne \ Socjologia \ Socjologia | - Księgarnia Wydawnictw Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego (wuw.pl)
  2. ^ "New Irish jobsite a hit in Poland". RTÉ.ie. 19 May 2004. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
  3. ^ "Up to 1,300 Polish people leaving Ireland every week". Retrieved 25 April 2015.
  4. ^ "Poles flee ailing Irish economy". Independent.ie. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
  5. ^ CSO - Foreign Nationals: PPSN Allocations, Employment and Social Welfare Activity - 2009
  6. ^ "Polish opposition party campaigns in Ireland". RTÉ. Dublin, Ireland. 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2020-06-17.
  7. ^ "Polish opposition party campaigns in Ireland". BBC. Belfast, Northern Ireland. 2010-06-16. Retrieved 2020-06-17.
  8. ^ "Polacy w Irlandii. Transnarodowe społeczności w dobie migracji poakcesyjnych (EBOOK)". WUW (in Polish). Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  9. ^ Pszczółkowska, Dominika; Lesińska, Magdalena (2022-01-02). "One step forward, two steps back in political integration: why are Polish candidates not making progress in Irish local elections?". Irish Political Studies. 37 (1): 125–146. doi:10.1080/07907184.2021.1929186. ISSN 0790-7184.
  10. ^ Senior Cycle subjects: Polish
  11. ^ https://data.cso.ie/
  12. ^ "Polska Macierz Szkolna w Irlandii". Polish Educational Society in Ireland. Retrieved 24 October 2020
  13. ^ "Polska Gazeta - NAJWIĘKSZY POLSKI TYGODNIK W IRLANDII OD 2005 ROKU". Retrieved 25 April 2015.
  14. ^ "Polish language TV helping Ireland's fastest-growing immigrant group feel at home". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
  15. ^ https://data.cso.ie
  • Gazeta.ie - the website with advertisements
  • Nasz Głos - the official website of "Nasz Głos" The Free Polish Weekly
  • Galway.pl - the largest website of the Polish community in the West of Ireland
  • Nadajemy.ie - the biggest social networking website for Polish people in Ireland
  • Polish-chaplaincy.ie - a website of Polish chaplaincy in Dublin
  • Polish Lutherans - a website for Polish Lutherans in Ireland
  • ABC EduLibrary- Polish cultural centre and library in Cork
  • Together-Razem Centre - non-profit organisation supporting Poles, Central and Eastern Europeans
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