Poles flee N. Irleand homes after World Cup riots

Ur home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! what great news!!!!!!!!!

No. I'm a computer guy now. Just have the usual mix of friends, some do work in the moving image field though.

I like your stuff as well.
How is the garden? You wrote about your stuff in Osioł's gardening thread. If I remember correctly you had some cherry trees. They must be almost finished flowering by now.

Thanks for that clarification. What really surprises me though,sitting here in Yorkshire,is how the Polish,presumably "catholic" families were welcomed into the "loyalist" communities in the first place. I know times are changing but this must have been seen by many in NI as a recipe for trouble .Maybe there was an element also of some sort of behind the scenes social enginering experiment less likely to spill out to the wider community by way of reprisals if things went wrong. Or am I just cynical after 30 odd years of Bloody Sunday cover ups .

Absolutely spectacular.
I am a city boy meself but those cherry blossoms are breath taking. They are ending that time now.
I have the peach tree, blackberry and grapevines (planted at the same time as Osiol's garden thread) coming up nicely. Along with the already existing, apple and cheery trees.

I still have apply Jam from last year's batch.
The peach and grapes will take a while but I can wait :)

To answer that is difficult.

The fact that the Polish are catholic is secondary to them being foreigners.
This is where it gets difficult, Unionism (Protestants) defines itself as being different from others, often referred to as a siege mentality. So when things go wrong the "Other" is the obvious target. There is also a large degree of right wing ideology in Loyalism probably a reaction to the largely Left leaning Republican/Nationalist ideology.

Your average Prod is not walking around hating Catholics or foreigners, what does concern them is the tighter knit, more community orientated Nationalists (Catholic) who seem to be moving forward.

The above statement is in its self sectarian.

So Polish people are walking a tightrope as it doesnt take much for the Religious stuff to come out considering it is all pervasive eg Catholic binmen empty catholic bins and Protestant postmen deliver protestant letters


Mine are just ending and I'm hoping for a good yield this year

Orange trees still have green leaves and we're all human. Some humans are thugs, some believe in peace, but alas many are sheep. A major problem is that thuggery and violence from the few can speak louder than peace from the many. I don't think anyone really truely understands Northern Ireland. Those from there know the most, but sometimes can't see the wood for the trees, being right in the thick of it. Those from outside don't understand because they don't live it day in, day out for their entire lives. Someone said something about poking a sleeping bear with a stick. That is very good advice.

You are being optimistic, I thing most of the people coming to NI were totaly cluless!

hello all.

i have just registered as i want to give my tuppence worth.

I hear alot of talk in the above posts re supporting the polish community. I have been abroad with little language and an "adequate" understanding of local customs (a native community in the yukon and an isolated village in nepal) and its really challenging and enriching if you get a welcome, an introduction and someone being there for you. And its quite intimidating if you feel you are not being understood. I think its alot to ask others to try and understand our customs.

I read the posts above and there are some great thoughts. However.....
.....wheres the action?

I have a polish acquaintance who is scared of going out. Who among us would like to make any girl feel that way?

So, a call to polish people, can you tell us if there are any events i could help with, any ideas for someone like me to link in to families here?

give it a thought.
thanks, j

ps, apologetically confess to being a prod..... :)

Good point. It's worth considering neither NI or RoI had a significant immigrant population until recently.

As for them being catholic, a (catholic) friend from Newry suggested, "They'd be let off a bit because they're foreigners and don't know any better!"

I still think that most people couldn't give a satisfactory Biblical justification for their faith. Most just accept the label from their parents, trying to identify themselves that way or with a given area which may be Catholic or Protestant.

Even mentioning a religious aspect laid bare the potential for further conflict to break out. It was very stupid what happened.