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.Polacy w Irlandii. Transnarodowe społeczności w dobie migracji poakcesyjnych (EBOOK) PDF | Nauki społeczne \ Socjologia \ Socjologia | - Księgarnia Wydawnictw Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego (wuw.pl)
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.
In the period immediately following the 2008 economic downturn, the number of Polish people in Ireland declined, with some reports suggesting that 30,000 were leaving Ireland per year, and the Central Statistics Office reporting a decrease in the number of Polish people applying for PPS numbers.CSO - Foreign Nationals: PPSN Allocations, Employment and Social Welfare Activity - 2009
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.
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.
Language and media As of 2021, Polish is officially an established Senior Cycle subject in post-primary educationSenior Cycle subjects: Polish 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.https://data.cso.ie/
The biggest Polish umbrella organization is the Polish Educational Society in Ireland (PESI), a non-profit organisation established in 2012."Polska Macierz Szkolna w Irlandii". Polish Educational Society in Ireland. Retrieved 24 October 2020 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 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.
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 https://data.cso.ie 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
Stan Gebler Davies, journalist Paddy Ruschitzko, hurler
See also Ireland–Poland relations Polish diaspora Soupy Norman Poles in the United Kingdom
References
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