Love / A surprise visit to Poland - need a general advice? Have no idea.. [4]

KPC the OP is female.

UK, Ireland / London's POSK smeared with anti-Polish grafitti [150]

Don't know if anyone noticed but the article in the Guardian is dated 2007........I would say that things have moved on a bit since then.

UK, Ireland / Why are Poles in the UK complaining of racism when you are racist? [73]


Paulina, do bear in mind that this kind of behaviour is from a minority of ignorant yobs. They exist in every country and society. There was an incident of racial abuse towards a black man in Manchester yesterday. The perpetrators were aged 20,18 and 16 and were guzzling beer........according to the report, other commuters came to the support of the gentleman under attack, informing the youths that they were 'disgusting' and 'a disgrace to England'.

News / How will BREXIT affect the immigrants in UK and Poland. [1114]

Right Doug, I did a bit of searching. That would be Diane Dodds of the DUP. Sure the woman is a Unionist/Loyalist, what would you expect? Hysteria is their usual style.

News / How will BREXIT affect the immigrants in UK and Poland. [1114]


Sorry Doug I don't know who that might be........Irish lady? Do you mean Martina Anderson from Northern Ireland. As far as I know she's in the Remain camp.

News / How will BREXIT affect the immigrants in UK and Poland. [1114]

Ireland may be a help to Britain in that respect as Ireland is definitely going to insist on the continued freedom of movement between our two countries (the Common Travel Area as it's known) and no re-instating of the border with Northern Ireland. So that will set a precedent. Incidentally the London School of Economics published a report stating that Ireland will "suffer the largest proportional losses" of any country other than the UK if a Brexit takes place."

News / What does Poles think of European superstate? [48]

Polly I don't think that would make a bit of difference to the EU authorities if it came to the crunch. The thing about politics is that they all make up the rules as they go along. We didn't get any special opt-out in the Lisbon Treaty. We come under the same rules as everyone else so we got round it by amending our constitution thus:

The State shall not adopt a decision taken by the European Council to establish a common defence pursuant to Article 42 of the Treaty on European Union where that common defence would include the State.

We're not members of NATO but we are members of the UN peacekeeping forces.

News / What does Poles think of European superstate? [48]


Would you Smurf? What about Irish neutrality?? Our armed forces number approximately 10,000 and that includes the desk staff. If we were called on to provide troops in war, we'd be wiped out in a week. Ireland is a special case within the EU as we are an island without the vulnerability of land borders. I really wouldn't like to see us lumped in with everyone else.

We have managed to develop a great relationship with the UK since indepdendence and I would like to see us maintain that. We already have the RAF and British Navy on standby if we ever needed them. They would come to our assistance without a doubt. Actually a few months ago there were complaints from some quarters in Ireland about our sovereignty being compromised by this arrangement! So I can't see the Irish people being too happy with Angela Merkel telling us what to do.

Smacznego for lunch by the way and we're still BFFs whatever our political differences :)

News / What does Poles think of European superstate? [48]

This may interest people as it's the text of the actual proposal for a 'united Europe'. Always much better to read the original document than a journalist's interpretation of it:

reddit.com/r/europe/comments/4q240s/frenchgerman_proposal_for_a_european_superstate/?st=ipz9hmxc&sh=f948cd97

UK, Ireland / Why are Poles in the UK complaining of racism when you are racist? [73]


You were trying to sell them?? I'm not surprised they didn't want to be friends with you!

News / Good-change government raising minimum wage in Poland, cutting SB pensions [213]



Yes but it was never available in the Catholic church.

UK, Ireland / Why are Poles in the UK complaining of racism when you are racist? [73]


No, it actually makes him look more articulate. That's one of those weird aspects of the English language that the old foreigners can never quite their heads round:)

News / Good-change government raising minimum wage in Poland, cutting SB pensions [213]


Remember that once upon a time only very rich people even contemplated officially separating from a spouse. I would suggest that annulment was introduced by the church in order to facilitate royalty and nobility in remarrying, in the case of there not being any heir produced. As Catholics are not permitted to divorce, this would be the only way to ensure the succession in a direct line, very important to crowned heads of Europe in those days!

News / How will BREXIT affect the immigrants in UK and Poland. [1114]


And there's the rub. That's the big stumbling block. They would be very small fry in a Dublin parliament. The complete anachronism that they are would become all too evident. I mean Smurf, you and I, we're Irish. We know that the Unionists are still living back in the 1600s and the Battle of the Boyne happened last week. Even the Republicans have moved on mentally but not the Loyalists. There's simply no place for them in Dáil Éireann unless they completely re-invent themselves. Whilst the Unionists have been in huge denial, Sinn Féin have been preparing for the future and building themselves the profile of a legitimate Irish political party with the interests of the disadvantaged and working classes of the Irish electorate at heart.

Life / Poland after one year of living here [105]


Yes, that struck me as odd. My darling husband started me off on the right road very shortly after we met. In typical, brusque, brisk, blunt and ruthlessly efficient Polish style he told me that he didn't have the patience to keep telling me how such-and-such a word was pronounced but that as Polish was a phonetic language, he would teach me the alphabet. Then I could read any word and pronounce it properly. He also told me that the stress was usually on the second last syllable so what more did I need to know. The grammar? Don't worry he told me, you'll never learn that!

Anyway it was the best thing he could have done. The phonetics of the Polish alphabet are really easy though I think maybe the fact that I was already used to teaching English phonics to children was a help. I think it only took a weekend to learn the alphabet and then I was independent in terms of teaching myself words.


A little bit of everything in moderation is ok I think.

Life / Poland after one year of living here [105]


Yes, those kinds of bakeries/patisseries are a different matter. I would never say 'no' to a cake from Blikle :) But Blikle cakes are not the average Polish cake, they are an art form! In fact many of their cakes are based on French, Italian or even German recipes, not Polish. They're the sort of thing that would have been favoured at the Polish court in bybone days and in those beautiful palaces along Ulica Miodowa in Warsaw..........


In Ireland an apple pie is always called a tart. It's made on plate, not in a pie dish, so it's quite shallow. We probably got the word tart from the Normans (whom we called The Old English) . Bear in mind that all our cakes are basically Irish adaptations of English classics. No doubt the Normans introduced the 'tarte' so by the time the English planters came along with their pie, the word 'tart' was so firmly established that the 'pie' never caught on.

News / How will BREXIT affect the immigrants in UK and Poland. [1114]


Smurf, you've clearly demonstrated with this post what a sentimental old softy you are at heart. There will be no re-united Ireland out of this I'm afraid.


Now come on Smurf - the Unionists are cold-hearted, self-serving opportunists. It would suit them just fine to take advantage of their potential for Irish citizenship and retain their individual rights to freedom of movement within the EU etc whilst remaining 'British'. Do you really believe Ian Paisley wants Ulster Unionists to renounce their British identity and become Irish?


Westminster has never wanted them. They got stuck with them. But they can't just hand them back at this stage. A poll would have to be held both in both Northern Ireland and the Republic with a majority in both supporting re-unification of Ireland. Bear in mind Smurf that many people in the Republic don't really want to take on Northern Ireland with all its problems and complexities and the economic factor of stretching our already inadequate budget (yes we'd get a bit extra from the EU but how long for, will there even be an EU in the future?).


Sports have always had the potential to be a unifying factor. Remember poor old George Best, beloved by all. His family were active members of the Orange Order and wee Georgie proudly carried insignia in the marches when he was a nipper. But nobody cared because he was one of those whose gifts simply transcend politics.


But not that far. Feelings amongst ordinary people may have come a long way but there are still a number of Unionist politicians and their followers who would wreak havoc in the North if a united Ireland were to be 'forced' on them as they would perceive it. These are not democratic people who respect the will of the majority, (supposing a majority voted in favour) - they are extremists. 'The Troubles' as we euphemistically refer to them was in fact a civil war and that's what you risk seeing again. It wouldn't be on the same scale but I really couldn't see the Unionists agreeing to be governed by Dublin as they see it without a few bombs going off and the possibility of them taking that south of the border would be very real. There are former UVF and UDR members who would be only too delighted to dust off their combat gear and get underway again. The only way you can have a peaceful re-unification of Ireland is when everybody agrees to it and that's still some way off. Give it another 10 or 20 years and there's a chance.

Life / Poland after one year of living here [105]

A good few people have mentioned that Luke should learn Polish, but according to his profile he speaks Polish, so........


How VERY dare you! Seriously though, shop bought cakes are inferior the world over, a home made cake is a different thing entirely but not everyone is good at baking. Home made English cakes made someone with the right touch are a 'rewelacja' and home made Polish cakes, whilst they don't compare, can be very good.


It's natural to prefer the cakes you grew up with. I'd definitely prefer an apple tart made with flaky pastry and Granny Smith apples than a Szarlotka - the variety of apple used is too sweet and bland for my tastes. And to me a Mazowieckie doesn't make a very exciting Christmas cake!

News / How will BREXIT affect the immigrants in UK and Poland. [1114]


Rubbish would be a more accurate word. It stems from the simple minded way in which Americans interpret world politics. Northern Ireland. like Scotland, voted to remain in the EU. But with England and Wales voting 'leave', the only way for Northern Ireland or Scotland to remain is for Scotland to become indepdendent or Northern Ireland (which is too tiny, poor and unstable for independence) to unite with the Republic. But, the Unionists in the North hate the idea of a united Ireland far more than they hate the idea of leaving the EU so it simply won't happen. A united Ireland will happen, literally over the dead bodies of the Unionists, anyone who knows Irish politics knows that.

UK, Ireland / How might Britain`s withdrawal from EU affect Poles there and here? [474]


The IRA have nothing to do with the 1960s. Read up on Irish history and you'll see where they stem from.


So much then for Poland's patriots during partition.......

News / How will BREXIT affect the immigrants in UK and Poland. [1114]

You mean the Lisbon Treaty, not the Euro. There was no referendum regarding currency.

UK, Ireland / How might Britain`s withdrawal from EU affect Poles there and here? [474]



David why are you saying 'we'? You're not British, you're Irish.

UK, Ireland / How might Britain`s withdrawal from EU affect Poles there and here? [474]

Who's 'you'? Only one Pole chatting on this thread and he lives in Poland. The rest of us are English, Scottish, Irish, British, American. None of us lives in the UK as far as I know, except for one of the English people, where would you like her to go?? And more importantly why? Is she not entitled to live in her own country?

UK, Ireland / How might Britain`s withdrawal from EU affect Poles there and here? [474]

I suppose Smurf it would be more accurate for me to say that Polish politicians don't like the EU. I think they feel that they can't get up to whatever they like because they're being watched and that they have to respect certain codes of practice and so on that go against the grain with them. I think that even the most reasonable of them are a bit touchy about the concept of Polish sovereignty, which I can sympathise with, Poland having had so little independence in the recent past. However I do feel that there's a fundamenal lack of respect for others that permeates Polish society at every level. Although it's improved it's still very common to be treated like dirt in a number of situations.


Depends. Bear in mind that some of them won't say exactly what they think to a 'foreigner' especially a nice Irish lad like yourself :) People don't say things to me directly, but Mr Atch works with a lot of people in that age group and a lot of them are still very conservative, with attitudes that wouldn't be out of place in 1950s Ireland. They appear outwardly 'modern' but dig a bit deeper and it's a different story.

UK, Ireland / How might Britain`s withdrawal from EU affect Poles there and here? [474]


My views on Poland have been formed by my personal experiences of it. In my opinion, Poland doesn't really like being part of the EU. They like the money but they don't like being told what to do and expected to conform to ideals which they don't share. I think they believed when they joined the EU that they could take all the funding offered and then simply give the finger to policies or directives that they didn't like.

I've said it before but I'll say it again: the social and cultural revolution of the 1950s and 1960s passed Poland by, as it did all of those countries behind the Iron Curtain. In the last 20 years Poland has been plunged overnight from WWII days and catapulted forward into a world that it doesn't fully comprehend. I see Poland as torn between wanting to be part of that world and resisting it at the same time.

News / How will BREXIT affect the immigrants in UK and Poland. [1114]


Shameful ignorance on their part. And it equally demonstrates that you're falling into the trap of quoting media sources without thinking about who the source is and what qualifications they have to be commenting. Journalists are a very mixed bag you know.

News / How will BREXIT affect the immigrants in UK and Poland. [1114]


And this demonstrates just how little you understand of anything other than American politics. I suppose this is the nonsense being churned out by the US media? There would be civil war in the North before that happens. Googe Loyalist/Unionist Northern Ireland and you'll see why, they can't even cope with the most basic power sharing. They had to be dragged kicking and screaming into the present situation.

UK, Ireland / How might Britain`s withdrawal from EU affect Poles there and here? [474]


And this from a reader of The Guardian who apparently speaks Polish.......tut, tut.


How lovely. Let's talk about our homeland over in Random Chat.

UK, Ireland / How might Britain`s withdrawal from EU affect Poles there and here? [474]

Cheer up Doug. This may indicate a bit of a swing to the right in Britain for a few years, but they will move back towards the centre and end up as an independent nation with good relations and trade links with their European neighbours. Britain is basically a stable democracy (apart from Northern Ireland, their real shame and disgrace). The trouble is that countries like Poland which are not stable democracies may foolishly think 'oh if the UK can do this, so can we' but they can't do it with the same kind of impunity that Britain can.

News / How will BREXIT affect the immigrants in UK and Poland. [1114]

Mmmmm and in theory Poland should have had the Euro by now...........they suit themselves Dolno. Good morning by the way! And Britian will survive this. She's a great old country and the bulldog spirit is still there.