UK, Ireland /
The Changing Attitude Towards the Poles in Ireland [21]
I don't think anything has changed at the core. The Poles were welcome when they were needed and any Irish person who wanted a job had one. They integrated much better than most, so even the prejudiced have easier targets groups to vent at. Now they are blamed for taking jobs from Irish people and should go home. The thing is they took the jobs when the Irish didn't want them, why would they walk out on them now? I had a Manager under me that tried to Anglicise the names of all our foreign staff because of his laziness. As soon as things started to take a downward turn he started suggesting who should be let go if we had to, to hell with last in first out. He never said anything directly but I knew that he resented all the foreigners. Since I left I know he promoted a completely incapable Irish lad to a job when there was a Polish guy there who had done the same job capably under me as holiday relief.
Re your friends party: Had the Polish neighbours reason to report them?
I would agree with your last sentence. A few friends and family have made the comment about the Polish skin heads etc lately. Honestly I think it's just prejudice, do the expect every nationality to blend seamlessly to the Irish landscape? It's the way many Polish men want to appear.
IMHO most of the Poles who are remaining long term in Ireland are poorer educated, older and have kids. In the good years all kinds of Poles came to Ireland to make some quick money. However the younger, more educated and unattached went home when they had earned some money. They had college to finish or had the prospect of a good job here. The unskilled Irish based Pole would have far fewer options here. I see many capable people struggle here.
I was recently on a lads weekend with a Pole living in Manchester. He told me there was no chance of them going home. He earned good money and as he had no qualifications he would struggle to get any descent work in Poland. Despite this he was living week to week. However his wife is highly qualified and would walk into a job here. His pride prevents them coming back.
I was working on a job in Cork about 8 years ago. I kept hearing foremen complaining about the standard of Polish Tradesmen. They were saying the building standards in Poland must be shocking. We were kitting out an apartment in Poland at the time and knew well the cost and standard of trades in Poland were high. I challenged a few of these guys, and realised the Poles coming off the planes were just answering want ads claiming to be all kinds of trades that didn't require certification (plasterers, carpenters, painters etc). I asked did they check any references, "how can we, they're are Polish speakers". I asked did they check they were certified or registered in Poland, same answer. This is where the myth of poor Polish tradesman quality comes from. Lads walking off planes into sites and taking jobs they had never done before. They got paid well so how bad, and bluffed their way through jobs.
