Polish in Ireland

oranje

I'm living in Holland myself but my wife is from Poland. I spend a lot of time there and, of course, lots of people have moved to Ireland or England that we know.
They are always asking me what Irish people think of Polish people. I am not exactly a reliable guide because of not living in Ireland, being married to a Pole, watching Polish tv every day and being able to speak their lingo.
What do you think the general attitude to Polish people is? Do you hear of many people dating Poles? Do they go to the pub? Or are they like a group outside of the mainstream just doing their thing? Is there any big interest now in, say, Polish films or food amongst Irish people?

Beruthiel

oranje wrote:

What do you think the general attitude to Polish people is?

If you've been on boards a while, then perhaps you've noticed quite a few bigoted threads on this subject?

Do you hear of many people dating Poles?

I'm sure it happens

Or are they like a group outside of the mainstream just doing their thing?

That would be the norm

Is there any big interest now in, say, Polish films or food amongst Irish people?

No big interest in that so far, it's early days though and will take years before that happens.

oranje

Beruthiel wrote:

If you've been on boards a while, then perhaps you've noticed quite a few bigoted threads on this subject?

Do you hear of many people dating Poles?

I'm sure it happens

.

Just on that subject, in Holland I know countless Polish girls with Dutch or other foreign guys but I only know one Polish guy with a Dutch girlfriend.

For that reason I imagined that a lot of Irish guys might have Polish girlfriends by now.

Dyr

I thought the general consensus on AH was that most imports of polish burds to ireland come with the big-polish-skinhead-boyfriend accessory as standard

sioda

Great import with the influx of Polish has to be the beer great stuff much stronger than irish lager and beer. On the subject of dating I know a few lads dating polish girls but you often find they stick to themselves like lots of nationalities when they move somewhere new but eventually I see much more integration.

Lets be honest when Irish are away we all migrate to the closest Irish pub its never too far away

Dermington

Bambi wrote:

I thought the general consensus on AH was that most imports of polish burds to ireland come with the big-polish-skinhead-boyfriend accessory as standard

Yeah 99% of the Polish I see do have shaved heads.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I think the Polish appear to be far more proud and far more into their appearance etc.

Both men and women really shame most of the Irish people at my gym. You also never see the women, for the most part, dressed plainly. They are always trying to impress.

Karl Hungus

Hmm... Polish films you say? Any recommendations?

CasperCorcaigh

The Poles seem grand to me. I haven't met many though I recently bought a house and my next door neighbours are Poles. They're very polite and quite friendly, though they do seem to stick to themselves (which suits me, the neighbour on the other side is a nosey oul bat). They have great parties every so often. I'd say they would tend to socialise at home, rather than the pub.

Dyr

Isnt dekalog polish? All six million hours of it

Beruthiel

Karl Hungus wrote:

Hmm... Polish films you say? Any recommendations?

I was thinking the same thing, how come we've never heard of any?

Raekwon

oranje wrote:

I imagined that a lot of Irish guys might have Polish girlfriends by now.

Alot of guys that I know have Polish or other eastern european women as girlfriends. Infact, I have a Czech girlfriend

oranje wrote:

but I only know one Polish guy with a Dutch girlfriend.

I don't know any Irish girl that has a Polish boyfriend though. Seems strange actually? :rolleyes:

oranje

Dermington wrote:

Exactly!

Is it illegal to not haver a blade 0?

That is a class thing. Just like in my home town in Ireland a lot of the guys from the bad area had the blade 0 the same is true in Poland.

I don't know any people with the blade 0 in Poland but, of course, I see loads of people with that look.

I don't imagine that too many Poles working in IT, accountancy, architecture etc. have that look.

They're just people, there's good, and bad...

They're just like Irish people,

except with different roots..

el tel

Karl Hungus wrote:

Hmm... Polish films you say? Any recommendations?

Beruthiel wrote:

I was thinking the same thing, how come we've never heard of any?

I'd recommend "Rocco Invades Poland" which is an excellent movie; a wonderful insight into the social lives and free attitudes of the Poles as experienced by an Italian visitor to Poland.

oranje

Karl Hungus wrote:

Hmm... Polish films you say? Any recommendations?

'Sara' is a really good one. There is an actor called Boguslaw Linda in it. Any films with him seem to be really good.

Another brilliant one was called 'Eddy' that one loads of prizes.

There are lots of films made there every year, they have a big film tradition. In Holland we have a Polish film festival every year where we get to see the best picks.

oranje

Raekwon wrote:

Alot of guys that I know have Polish or other eastern european women as girlfriends. Infact, I have a Czech girlfriend



I don't know any Irish girl that has a Polish boyfriend though. Seems strange actually? :rolleyes:

There do seem to be a lot of nice Slavic women. I think the point here is that men are not bothered about money and status so having a girlfriend from a tower block in Poland is not important.
For a lot of women this seems to make a difference. The one Polish guy I know with a Dutch girlfrien is a university professor.

Raekwon

oranje wrote:

There do seem to be a lot of nice Slavic women. I think the point here is that men are not bothered about money and status so having a girlfriend from a tower block in Poland is not important.
For a lot of women this seems to make a difference. The one Polish guy I know with a Dutch girlfrien is a university professor.

Yeah, that seems to be the way it works :rolleyes:

Ponster

Beruthiel wrote:

I was thinking the same thing, how come we've never heard of any?

How many non-dubbed, subtitled movies are shown in your local cinema in Ireland?

Ziemia obiecana is well worth watching, as is Nigdy w zyciu and Quo Vadis.

Karl Hungus

Hmm, a rather handy feature of play.com is that you can browse DVD titles by language. This is the way I keep track of a lot of foreign films. Pity, there doesn't seem to be much on offer for Polish films.

hullaballoo

Some people I've talked to have found Polish people to be violent at times. I suppose there would be an element there that are, but by and large, the Polish people that I've met have all been pretty nice.

I've worked with a few in various places, and I've encountered a good few on the sites near my house and they seem good for a laugh.

Karl Hungus

Ponster wrote:

How many non-dubbed, subtitled movies are shown in your local cinema in Ireland?

What does that matter? People connected to this here wonderfull thing we call the intraweb can find out about loads of films from all kinds of different countries, and are not bound by what's played in the local cinema.

Beruthiel

Karl Hungus wrote:

What does that matter? People connected to this here wonderfull thing we call the intraweb can find out about loads of films from all kinds of different countries, and are not bound by what's played in the local cinema.

I am personally keeping play.com afloat

Ponster

Karl Hungus wrote:

What does that matter? People connected to this here wonderfull thing we call the intraweb can find out about loads of films from all kinds of different countries, and are not bound by what's played in the local cinema.

Because Beruthiel asked

I was thinking the same thing, how come we've never heard of any?

which seemed to suggest that people only hear about good movies and if you haven't heard of any Polish movies then they aren't worth hearing about, though I can see now that maybe I read a lot into the sentence

About 40% of the movies I see are non-English and almost all I would never of heard about living in Ireland where I'd probably have to search for such movies as opposed to having them delivered to my cinema

ScumLord

There's allot of Poles in my town (it's a fairly small town, around 900 people) and they've integrated fairly well into the town, I don't think they have much choice in a town like this allthough we have a few Brazilians who don't get on so well with the locals and especially the Polish but that's mainly a group of lads not all of them.

Allot of groundworks and plastering companys work out of the town so that's the main reason they come here. My house mate is going out with a Slovakian girl and I know a girl in town whos going out with a polish guy.

They do all go out drinking with the locals every weekend, it's what they did back in Poland so it's not such a big leap to do the same here. One lad used to be a football holigan, in and out of jail he loves it here because he can have a normal life and support he's family.

eirebhoy

I find the Polish ladies very sociable but can't say I've ever had a conversation with a Polish lad in a pub/niteclub. In my local there's 2 good looking Polish barmaids and we spend the day/night talking to them whenever we're in there. They'd sometimes come in on their night off and just sit with anyone. Pretty much like Irish women but sexier because they're... not Irish.

L31mr0d

I don't care what anybody says. I love the Poles and want more of them, more of them I tells you. Why? Because my local euro spar has started up a polish section of food, because there are so many in my area, overflowing with kielbasa's of every size, length and taste (i.e. bring on the inuendo), every sausage under the moon infact (weiners, salami...etc) which have been severely lacking in Ireland for the last few years, also some great polish fruit drinks with things like peach, kiwi and coconut (great for mixers) which i've usually seen on the continent but never in Ireland.

About the Irish acceptance of Poles though, I have a Polish friend here who also happens to be black (pc? I mean he calls himself black jack), he said that he has been back and forth between Ireland and Poland for the last few years and has decided to settle now in Ireland because he has found that the Irish peoples acceptance of him being black and polish is a lot better than the polish peoples acceptance of him just being black. What that says, I dunno... maybe we are more accepting overall then we believe?

Sorry...

Terry

L31mr0d wrote:

About the Irish acceptance of Poles though, I have a Polish friend here who also happens to be black (pc? I mean he calls himself black jack), he said that he has been back and forth between Ireland and Poland for the last few years and has decided to settle now in Ireland because he has found that the Irish peoples acceptance of him being black and polish is a lot better than the polish peoples acceptance of him just being black. What that says, I dunno... maybe we are more accepting overall then we believe?

it's ok. you can call black people "black", but only if you refer to white people as "white". just don't let the pc brigade catch you.

anyway, where are all these Polish women i keep hearing about?
I ahve yet to meet one in Leixlip.
baltic women, yes. czech women, yes. but still no Poleish women.
also, i haven't seen any of these stereotypical 0 blade Polish men.

pvt. joker

I'm an idiot.

scojones

pvt.joker banned for pornographic material. A disclaimer doesn't cut it, porn is not allowed.

mike65

re filums - Knife in the Water is to be seen not to mention Decalogue

Mike.

Dudess

Karl Hungus wrote:

Hmm... Polish films you say? Any recommendations?

Apparently a little animated film called Worker and Parasite is well worth watching.

Oh yeah, forgot about Polanski.

oranje

julep wrote:

it's ok. you can call black people "black", but only if you refer to white people as "white". just don't let the pc brigade catch you.

anyway, where are all these Polish women i keep hearing about?
I ahve yet to meet one in Leixlip.
baltic women, yes. czech women, yes. but still no Poleish women.
also, i haven't seen any of these stereotypical 0 blade Polish men.

Check out your local Polish mass if you want to see the local Polish women .
I have to go to the local Polish mass here every now and again and there are always loads of young ones there. The Catholic church has a big hold over young Polish people.

Poland is a great place to visit too, especially Wroclaw and Krakow. They are both a bit like Prague but not quite as commercialized.

Laslo

I like most of the Polish people I've met. I find Polish girls a little cold emotionally. They're generally very good looking and everything but I've only met a few that I would even consider dating. I can't quite put my finger on it but most of them just seem to be lacking the warmth and craic that you'd expect in a relationship. Polish guys I find are pretty sound. They can be a bit aggro with a few drinks on them but then again so can Irish blokes. There are a few rotten apples in every bunch I suppose.

Dyr

L31mr0d wrote:

I don't care what anybody says. I love the Poles and want more of them, more of them I tells you. Why? Because my local euro spar has started up a polish section of food, because there are so many in my area, overflowing with kielbasa's of every size, length and taste (i.e. bring on the inuendo), every sausage under the moon infact (weiners, salami...etc) which have been severely lacking in Ireland for the last few years, also some great polish fruit drinks with things like peach, kiwi and coconut (great for mixers) which i've usually seen on the continent but never in Ireland.

About the Irish acceptance of Poles though, I have a Polish friend here who also happens to be black (pc? I mean he calls himself black jack), he said that he has been back and forth between Ireland and Poland for the last few years and has decided to settle now in Ireland because he has found that the Irish peoples acceptance of him being black and polish is a lot better than the polish peoples acceptance of him just being black. What that says, I dunno... maybe we are more accepting overall then we believe?

Black and Polish? you could call him kiwi

Sonnenblumen

Karl Hungus wrote:

Hmm... Polish films you say? Any recommendations?

Start with 'Man of Steel' but bewarned it is not an FX film, requires careful attention!

trance2004

Polish comedies are great,

Jak Rozpetalem II Wojne Swiatowa- How I Unleashed World War II.-is the best in my opinion.

Lord Nikon

julep wrote:

I ahve yet to meet one in Leixlip.

I work in Leixlip, in a large factory, and the place is full of Polish people, and although I don't live in Leixlip, I do know that it is full of Polish people. They are some of the nicest people you could ever meet, and the can speak english very well.

The women are very attractive, but somewhat cold and quiet, that's until you start speaking to them, and then they are deadly.

johnplayerblue

I for one hate poles, walked into one once and bit my tounge.

Strokesfan

Maybe it's a bit off topic and I know they keep to themselves but i was living in an apartment next to a lot of Polish people and I never minded the parties but I strongly suspect that it was them who stomped up and down on the roof of my car one night and left an almighty dent in it... I worked with some lovely girls though but the boys seem to like their spirits...

magpie

A lot of IT types who weren't able to score with Irish women seem to have Polish girlfriends now. Maybe the language barrier and high salary in relative terms make them seem less dull to an outsider? (:D )

InFront

They're pretty much the same as Irish people in every way, i think. Culturally, historically, religiously, socially, politically, that's why it always confuses me when you hear anti-Polish stuff here
Would be nice to see a bit more culural stuff going on here, film festivals and stuff, maybe.

EDIT: Theres one bad thing about Poland imo, and that's Polish 'pop music' music...:eek: Its just wrong

secret_squirrel

My Dunnes has a polish food section now so they must have gone mainstream

parkiecik

Karl Hungus wrote:

Hmm... Polish films you say? Any recommendations?

Just a few that come to mind. Where to find the movies? 'Laser' video store on Georges St. would be my best bet.

- Three colours (Red, White,Blue)- by Kieslowski
- The Decalogue by Kieslowski, Ok this one's rather heavy but I two worth watching are: The short film about love and The short film about killing.
- Knife in the water - Polanski (A lot can happen on a small boat)
- The Pianist - Polanski (Story of survival against all odds during war).
Chronicle of Amorous Accidents - Wajda (Warning! Will changeyou into incurable romantic for life)
- Man of Marble - Wajda (It is a "Citizen Kane"-styled story of a female film student who tries to trace the history of Birkut, a long-forgotten "hero" of the Polish Communist government.)
- Man of Iron - Wajda (A great movie about postwar Poland's history)
- Europa Europe - Holland (Good story, well told).
- Sexmission - Paradys (Life without men? Neej. Classic Polish comedy
- The Deserters - Majewski (If all wars were fought like this, everyone would be a lot happier. Another classic commedy).
- How I Unleashed World War II - Chmielewski (Best Polish wartime comedy. Ask any Pole to whistle the main theme.).
- The Devil - Zurawski
- Camera Buff - Filip Mosz
- Citizen Piszczyk - Jan Piszczyk (Not very modest to name the movie after himself, but there you go).
- The Year of the Quiet Sun - Zanussi (Hope and Love During The Times of Misery and Despair)
- The Blind Chance - Kieslowski (Although the movie was made in 1981, it had its premiere in 1987. The delay was because of state-imposed censorship due to the film's political content. Enough said).
- The Moth - Zygadlo
- Love Stories - Stuhr (Four stories of love: forbidden, yearned-for, betrayed, found.)
- The Day of the Wacko - Koterski (t is a bitter story about a middle-aged man, who hates his life and other people, including himself.)
- My Mother's Lovers - Piwowarski (Adult child, immature mother.).
- Yesterday - Piwowarski (Beatles crazy polish youths in the 60s)
- Johnnie the Aquarius - Kolski (simple people, strange story, surrealistic visuals)

Others with polish connections:
- Rosemary's Baby - Polanski
- Secret Garden - Holland
- The Ninth Gate - Polanski
- Oliver Twist - Polanski
- Washington Square - Holland
- Olivier, Olivier - Holland
- Fidelity - Zurawski (not hard thing to do given that he was married to Sophie Marceau)
- Déjà vu - Pollack (Polish comedy actor Jerzy Stuhr in leading role)
- GoldenEye - remember the blonde in Bond movie that's Isabela Scorupco. She also starred in Vertical Limit and The reign of fire.
- The Shindler's list - Set in Poland during WWII. Cinematography by Janusz Kaminski
I must mention that Kaminski was also responsible for Jerry Maguire, Jurrasic Park, Amistad, Saving Private Ryan, AI, Minority Report, Catch Me if You Can, War of The Worlds, The terminal and Munich
The other famous graduate from Lodz School of Film - Andrzej Bartkowiak was the director of photography in Prizzi's Honour, Speed, Falling Down, The devil's advocate, Dante's Peak, Lethal Weapon 4, Thirteen Days.

Dudess

Strokesfan wrote:

but the boys seem to like their spirits...

My male Polish flatmate would quite happily admit that does apply to him and his compatriots. And man, does he like to party too.

parkiecik

EDIT: Theres one bad thing about Poland imo, and that's Polish 'pop music' music...:eek: Its just wrong[/QUOTE]

AMEN to that. As a Pole I hoped this stay as our national shameful secret, but there you go. Now everybody knows polish pop sucks:D. Thanks God we can at least impress Japanese with Chopin.

mloc

polish people, indeed other eastern europeans, seem to be very like irish people. I've never had a problem with any of them, in terms of immigrants into ireland, the polish are probably amongst the most pleasant. Serbian/Croatian people are also great fun, one of my good friends is serbo-croatian and although he has lived here a good few years now, has attitutes similar to most irish people.

Ronan|Raven

Avalon is very good and is polish with eng subs.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0267287/

Oh yea back on the original question, I find the polish and most other people who choose to work live here nowadays grand. There are some dodgy types but no worse than what one gets in all walks of life.

Sarky

More Polish people results in more potential contacts for getting your hands on a bottle of really good vodka. I fail to see how this situation could be a bad thing.

super_furry

It's strange but I know a good few lads going out with Polish girls but no Irish girls going out with Polish lads. Polish people seem cool to me though, I've been at a few of their parties and BBQ's and they all seem very friendly and similar in outlook and attitude to Irish people.

oranje

magpie wrote:

A lot of IT types who weren't able to score with Irish women seem to have Polish girlfriends now. Maybe the language barrier and high salary in relative terms make them seem less dull to an outsider? (:D )

I don't think that just goes for Polish girls. I have seen it time and again that Irish guys can get stunners abroad but the same guys get nowhere in Ireland.

I think that this has a lot to with the fact that:
i) There are relatively few good looking girls in Ireland so the ones that are good looking tend to have very high standards.
ii) Polish/German/Scandinavian/Dutch.... women tend to be more serious than Irish women. On that score a lot of the IT types may be able to outscore their less 'dull' brethern.
iii) A lot of these IT types are willing to make the effort to learn a bit about the culture and the lingo. It always impresses foreign women when you have a 'cupla focail' of their language.

I would make the distinction between 'scoring' in Ireland and being able to get a girlfriend. The 'art' of seduction in Ireland is the very impressionist exercise of getting hammered, landing at the nearest pub/discotheque and seeing what you end up with. Rather like shooting fish in a barrel. Most people, even IT guys, can manage this.