nav[aria-label="Primary Navigation"] { padding: 0; & ul { list-style: none; width: 100%; display: flex; flex-direction: row; justify-content: start; align-items: start; gap: 30px; padding: 0; & li { margin: 0; } & ul li { list-style: none; } } }

Child Item

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?

Find more posts tagged with

Quick Links

Comments

Ponster

Dermington wrote:

I mean 200k Polish in Cork apparently and I can honestly say that over half my Gym has foreign/foreign looking people.

I think you mean 2,000 people ?

In 2002 Cork only had 125k total people living there. Are there 2 times as many Polish as Irish in Cork now?

Conar

There are only 8 houses on my road and 2 of them have polish families in them. I only wish the rest of them did.
They are so nice, polite and friendly.
They remind me of pre-'Celtic Tiger' Irish.

Red Alert

i find polish people in general great, they're a real good laugh and they're very like us. there's a eastern european (one of the smaller states) girl at work and she seems very quiet, almost standoffish until you get to know her - she's absolutely hilarious!

MyPeopleDrankTheSoup

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.

Plus the fact that a high percentage of polish women are absolute stunners who put Irish women to shame, and they dont tell ya to **** off if you try and chat to em... sorry, rant over

MyPeopleDrankTheSoup

oranje wrote:

iii) A lot of these IT types are willing to make the effort..... Most people, even IT guys, can manage this.....

lay off the IT people!

Collie D

Dermington wrote:

Irish people should be ashamed of themselves being honest.

Why? Because we're not all over six foot with bodies like Arnie? Cop on!

Kintarō Hattori

Conar wrote:

They remind me of pre-'Celtic Tiger' Irish.

Your so right. I'm just back from a two week holiday in Poland, went last year with the missus as well. They are such nice people, really friendly and welcoming. They have a great honesty about them, it really does remind me of how we used to be.
And for the two weeks I was there I didn't see one young lady that wasn't easy on the eye, it was quite amazing, they were are incredibly stunning women. And not one was over weight. Without a doubt they are on a whole better dressed than Irish ladies, they were dressed very elegantly, every single one of them.
I am not one to dismiss Irish ladies, but on a whole they were most definetly better looking and better dressed.

Duckjob

Dermington wrote:

I totally agree. Its obvious that they prefer Polish guys because they take care of themselves. Irish people should be ashamed of themselves being honest. I mean 200k Polish in Cork apparently and I can honestly say that over half my Gym has foreign/foreign looking people.

Second that. We'd be a lot more attractive if we weren't such slovenly f**king slobs. Manys the time I've seen girls with very pretty but pudgy faces and thich shapeless middles. And btw i'm not singling out the girlies, the guys are just as bad with their jowly jaws and man-tits.

Collie D

So a nation is to be judged on the physical appearance of its inhabitants? I quite like Irish women, they are great fun, good sense of humour and I find a woman who can smile more attractive than a sullen looking eastern European

Terry

Duckjob wrote:

Second that. We'd be a lot more attractive if we weren't such slovenly f**king slobs. Manys the time I've seen girls with very pretty but pudgy faces and thich shapeless middles. And btw i'm not singling out the girlies, the guys are just as bad with their jowly jaws and man-tits.

a sign of prosperity.

exiztone

I've mixed feelings really. I have a Polish friend, she's really cool and I've known her since secondary school, but personally, I consider her Irish at this point. Two of the girls I work with are Polish; they're very friendly, chatty and nice.

As for the customers I get in my shop. The Polish really come off as rude. They're certainly able to say "Marlboro 10... light!" and repeat it again louder if I say 'Pardon'. But out of the hundreds of Poles I've served; only a handful have said please and thank you. I know that might not much to other people, but it really brings down your environment.

Before you make a retort on how the public are rude in general, I don't get the same kind of coldness from Irish customers. They always say please, they're always grateful, and they're more likely to start a bit of chit chat.

My girlfriend is the same, she works in Brown Thomas where they're obliged to say "Hello" and "How are you?" to anybody who comes in. She finds most people receptive and friendly, but when it comes to a Polish person, they give her filthy looks.

My mind isn't set in stone about all this. I'm just letting you know my own observations.

Duckjob

Collie D wrote:

So a nation is to be judged on the physical appearance of its inhabitants? I quite like Irish women, they are great fun, good sense of humour and I find a woman who can smile more attractive than a sullen looking eastern European

Nope, not judging anyone. Its well known that Irish are highly regarded in Europe and the world in terms of our personality, but we are not in terms of looks. The point I was making is that we generally over-rely on our personality to get us by. Probably a sign/symptom of our wealth as Julep said.

As regards the manners thing, I suspect you could put some of that down to culture differences. I remember having it explained to me by a spanish person that they find it funny how much we say "please" and "thank you" in shops,. bars, restaurants etc. Their view is that if you buy a cup of coffee, there's no reason to say 'thank you' when it's brought to you, because you've bought and paid for it! in other words, what we count as the norm for manners/etiquiette is reserved by them for genuine acts of kindness.

IrishEmperor

I'm half Irish, half Polish.
My mum's the Polish one.
I used to feel *special* when I was younger & I knew the majority of the small Polish community here during my childhood.... and then recently 10% of Poland shows up and moves in... suddenly I'm not so special.

I find many Poles do have a cold and serious personality (my mum is one 80% of the time - my father will even remark about it occasionally), but then you do get the jolly smiley types too...

exiztone

Duckjob wrote:

As regards the manners thing, I suspect you could put some of that down to culture differences. I remember having it explained to me by a spanish person that they find it funny how much we say "please" and "thank you" in shops,. bars, restaurants etc. Their view is that if you buy a cup of coffee, there's no reason to say 'thank you' when it's brought to you, because you've bought and paid for it! in other words, what we count as the norm for manners/etiquiette is reserved by them for genuine acts of kindness.

Yeah, that's the kind of thing I'm talking about. That kind of attitude makes me thing they're carrying a chip on their shoulder. "I'm paying their wage, they don't deserve common respect!"

Terry

exiztone wrote:

Yeah, that's the kind of thing I'm talking about. That kind of attitude makes me thing they're carrying a chip on their shoulder. "I'm paying their wage, they don't deserve common respect!"

nah. it's just a cultural difference really.

i'm sure they think we are the odd ones, with our culture.

biko

secret_squirrel wrote:

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

And eircom has a Polish section http://www.eircom.ie

magpie

OK, so we're agreed then:

Appallingly depressing semi-bankrupt economies (like pre-Celtic Tiger Ireland and Poland now) make people a) more attractive, b) more down to earth and c) less likely to be overweight.

However, I reserve the right to laugh heartily when all your future Polish wives turn into the kind of grotesque overweight Range-Rover-driving fur-coated gold-jewellery toating middle-aged madams you see in more settled Polish communities. Try London for comparison.

Kintarō Hattori

magpie wrote:

OK, so we're agreed then:

Appallingly depressing semi-bankrupt economies (like pre-Celtic Tiger Ireland and Poland now) make people a) more attractive, b) more down to earth and c) less likely to be overweight.

However, I reserve the right to laugh heartily when all your future Polish wives turn into the kind of grotesque overweight Range-Rover-driving fur-coated gold-jewellery toating middle-aged madams you see in more settled Polish communities. Try London for comparison.

Oh just stop now. Tis always the same with you!

Froot

Ponster wrote:

I think you mean 2,000 people ?

In 2002 Cork only had 125k total people living there. Are there 2 times as many Polish as Irish in Cork now?

AFAIK county cork has 200k...

Froot

Collie D wrote:

Why? Because we're not all over six foot with bodies like Arnie? Cop on!

no, and dont exaggerate because you cant make a valid point.

Polish people in this country generally tend to look after themselves more. Polish women look healthier than Irish women. they also dress better and generally put more effort in.

This shows they have a high value on looks and appearance, which means they are more inclined to work out and do sports and exercise in order to maintain this and so are overall healthier people than the Irish.

Irish people should be ashamed because we are following America down the road to obesity. We have the same % as America did ten years ago and we are catching up fast. In Ireland people make a big deal out of doing exercise and in general among the working population those who do exercise/work out are looked opon as being the exception to normality. People are in awe when I say I go to the gym three time sa week etc. Those that I work with (aged 25-60) think I;m some sort of pillhead fitness fanatic because I work out and take supplement. Its this exaggeration and reaction that shows that in general those in my environment dont see exercise as normal.

I work in a company of one thousand people and I can count 8 or 9 people who actively work out or do sports. The rest obviously dont judging by their appearance, and I'm not talking about only those with big muscles are the ones working out. I can tell if someone does exercise or not and genuinely 99% of the people in the company look as though they dont.

Collie D

Hooray, you!

Terry

indeed.

out of those 1,000 people, do you actually know what every last one of them does in their spare time?
no? didn't think so.

i used to be really skinny. unhealthily skinny. not through an eating disorder or anything. i was just underweight. now i'm obese and couldn't be happier. i'm not ashamed of my body either and don't see any reason as to why i should be.

Tha Gopher

exiztone wrote:

As for the customers I get in my shop. The Polish really come off as rude. They're certainly able to say "Marlboro 10... light!" and repeat it again louder if I say 'Pardon'. But out of the hundreds of Poles I've served; only a handful have said please and thank you. I know that might not much to other people, but it really brings down your environment.

Before you make a retort on how the public are rude in general, I don't get the same kind of coldness from Irish customers. They always say please, they're always grateful, and they're more likely to start a bit of chit chat.

I'm just letting you know my own observations.

Personal observations? I call it racial stereotyping! We will have none of that *starts 60 page waffle thread about how much of a big racist bastard you are*

Sorry about that

Its just that it wouldnt be the first time that someone was accused of being racist based on their dealings with a group in the service sector. Though tbh I always found the Poles/ex Soviets to be, generally speaking, more up on their please and thank yous than even the Irish. About 90% of the Irish would show courtesy, close on 100% of the Poles/ex Soviets, quite litreally none of the travellers or Roma gypsies and only about 70% of the Nigerians (30% not bothering to say thank you or barking orders can really get on your tits)

Collie D wrote:

So a nation is to be judged on the physical appearance of its inhabitants? I quite like Irish women, they are great fun, good sense of humour and I find a woman who can smile more attractive than a sullen looking eastern European

Collie, I think most of the people on boards for some reason think Polish women are a trend, a fashion accessory. This leads to a disdain for Irish women that borders on a terrible likeness to Alan Partridges refusal to acquire British women, in the same way some Americans still refuse to buy Japanese cars

The trend can also cause posters to pretend theyve went out with a half dozen women from several old soviet bloc states, completely oblivious to the fact that because 90% plus of the Polish women here have the man in tow, that we know theyre largely lying

Newsflash: Polish women are NOT all blonde long haired well dressed part time models. There are plenty of attractive ones granted, but Ive known one or two you wouldnt ride if you were paid. Granted, I quite like East European birds. I like the way that they can be gorgeous yet hard as nails, real tough personality without it being in a skangery sense. But its not as if Ireland is in any way an ugly country for women, we are one of Europes best.

georgiecasey wrote:

Plus the fact that a high percentage of polish women are absolute stunners who put Irish women to shame, and they dont tell ya to **** off if you try and chat to em... sorry, rant over

Do Irish women really tell you to fcuk off on a regular basis? "Jesus, what a bitch she is. I come over here steaming drunk, sit beside her, start waffling nonsense and she then pretends she has to go make a phone call! Any bird who doesnt want me to ride her is clearly some sort of snobby kunt". :rolleyes: A very high percentage of Polish women are stunners who put ours to shame? A very high percentage of Dublin women are absoloute stunners who put Spanish and Italiian women to shame.
Go figure

magpie

Oh just stop now. Tis always the same with you!

juanjo

Tha Gopher wrote:

A very high percentage of Dublin women are absoloute stunners who put Spanish and Italiian women to shame.
Go figure

Man either you are blind or you have just seen italian and spanish girls here. I have to say that, don't ask me why, girls who come over here are alternative kinda style, not taking too much care of themselves and therefore not causing a big impression.

Go to Madrid and walk around La Castellana, Sol or so. I fall in love every 30 seconds there.

smash

gotta love those eastern eurpoean women...

KosmaPL

you dont have to be ashame of your girls. they are not better and they arent worse ,they are just different. personally as a man I find those differences really interesting , exotic and tempting, besides all the boys just love to spice up their lifes.

what I really like about Irish gals is their independence, Polish girls seems to got stuck in pre-feminism times. in my homeland man is still the natural hunter, while women wait for nothing better than to be dragged by the hair back into the cave. in Ireland its different , now I`m a prey not only a predator. I have to admit that I love this feeling.

Tha Gopher

KosmaPL wrote:

you dont have to be ashame of your girls. they are not better and they arent worse ,they are just different. personally as a man I find those differences really interesting , exotic and tempting, besides all the boys just love to spice up their lives.

what I like about Irish gals is their independence, Polish girls seems to got stuck in pre-feminism times. in my homeland man is still the natural hunter, while women wait for nothing better than to be dragged by the hair back into the cave. in Ireland its different , now I`m a prey not only a predator. I have to admit that I love this feeling.

Good god, a Pole on boards who speaks more truth than Irish people here who make community wide pronouncements about their attributes that make absoloutely no sense?

Now Ive seen everything

re Kosma- I get what you mean. The fact so many are tied down by their late teens/early 20s would, as you say, almost refelct on a reliance on one big strong man and his money. Have to say though, the amount of single Polish women has went up a bit since they started arriving (i.e. in 2005 it was near impossible to meet a single one, nearly all arrived with man in tow, now there is a greater proportion).

Juanjo- presume by the name you are from Spain/Portugal. Dont know why, but in the last few weeks/months in my job there has been an increase in the amount of very nice med birds, compared to the last while when ost I saw around were into the 4 euro clothes and pink rimmed glasses medical card kids in the 80s got.

And apart from that, workmate showed me video of a psy trance festival in Spain. My jaw nearly hit my toes

Dave!

There's a sizeable element that subscribes to the idea that immigrants are the source of Ireland's problems, and Poles make up a large chunk of our immigrant population. Whether it's taking our jobs, being involved in violent crimes, or making it rain........ There's always gonna be some people that put the blame on immigrants. But for the most part, Irish people are happy enough to have Poles here, and treat them like anyone else.

It's becoming increasingly common for Irish people to date Poles, or at the very least shag them!

Because let's face it, Polish chicks are hot. In my experience it does end up being the case that Polish people all sit together at lunch or whatever, but that's perfectly normal worldwide! You're naturally gonna be drawn to people from the same country as you, who speak the same language as you, etc. That doesn't mean that they're not included or don't come on nights out, though...

I don't think there's much interest in or knowledge of Polish films, food, etc. Certainly I haven't noticed it. Although I used to learn some Polish phrases from the Poles I used to work with... Same with other people in the job. I guess that counts as taking an interest in their culture! And not just the bad words either!

This is all my experience, I'm sure others' differ.....

OMcGovern

Conar wrote:

There are only 8 houses on my road and 2 of them have polish families in them. I only wish the rest of them did.
They are so nice, polite and friendly.
They remind me of pre-'Celtic Tiger' Irish.

I've the opposite problem... a quiet cul-de-sac with 2 polish groups.

One used to drive home between 1-2am, and sit in his driveway with the car stereo blaring for up to 45 mins, waking up the entire street.. This happened 5 times in one month, and I had a confrontation with him one night. He had drink on him... drunk driving. After I made some quite legal threats to him, about calling the Guards, he hasn't done it since.

The other house, with poles in it, has a noisy diesel engined van which pulls up at midnight every night. Again, not conducive to sleep.

Of the 26 houses in the cul-de-sac, I haven't had cause for complaint against anyone else.