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Polish minority in Ireland
Polish: Polska mniejszość w Irlandii
Total population
	93,681 (2022)
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

The Polish minority in Ireland numbered 93,680, plus 17,152 people with dual Polish and Irish citizenship, according to 2022 census figures.^[2]

History

After Poland joined the European Union in May 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 in its first day.^[3]

In the period immediately following the 2008 economic downturn, the number of Polish people in Ireland declined,^[4] with some reports suggesting that 30,000 were leaving Ireland per year,^[5] and the Central Statistics Office reporting a decrease in the number of Polish people applying for PPS numbers.^[6]

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.^[7]^[8] ^[9]

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 mandates^[10]

Language and media

As of 2021, Polish is officially an established Senior Cycle subject in post-primary education^[11] and hence can be taken as part of the Irish Leaving Certificate examination.

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.

Notable people

Stan Gebler Davies, journalist
Paddy Ruschitzko, hurler

References

^ "Migration and Diversity - CSO - Central Statistics Office". 30 May 2023.
^ Polacy w Irlandii. Transnarodowe społeczności w dobie migracji poakcesyjnych (EBOOK) PDF | Nauki społeczne \ Socjologia \ Socjologia | - Księgarnia Wydawnictw Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego (wuw.pl)
^ "New Irish jobsite a hit in Poland". RTÉ.ie. 19 May 2004. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
^ "Up to 1,300 Polish people leaving Ireland every week". Retrieved 25 April 2015.
^ "Poles flee ailing Irish economy". Independent.ie. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
^ CSO - Foreign Nationals: PPSN Allocations, Employment and Social Welfare Activity - 2009
^ "Polish opposition party campaigns in Ireland". RTÉ. Dublin, Ireland. 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2020-06-17.
^ "Polish opposition party campaigns in Ireland". BBC. Belfast, Northern Ireland. 2010-06-16. Retrieved 2020-06-17.
^ "Polacy w Irlandii. Transnarodowe społeczności w dobie migracji poakcesyjnych (EBOOK)". WUW (in Polish). Retrieved 2024-02-20.
^ 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.
^ Senior Cycle subjects: Polish
^ "Polska Macierz Szkolna w Irlandii". Polish Educational Society in Ireland. Retrieved 24 October 2020
^ "Polska Gazeta - NAJWIĘKSZY POLSKI TYGODNIK W IRLANDII OD 2005 ROKU". Retrieved 25 April 2015.
^ "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.

External links

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