THE BARRIERS ON THE WAY TO INTEGRATION OF POLISH MIGRANTS TO IRELAND

The dynamics of the integration process varies in case of the first and the following generations of emigrants. It is quite challenging though to describe all the details of the integration process of Polish migrants to Ireland due to the short period of Poland’s membership in the EU. However, it is important to analyze the barriers which are becoming more and more visible on the way to integration of the first “pioneer migrant generation”. The aim of the paper is the multi-dimentional analysis of the factors impeding Polish migrants’ integration into the Irish society. The analysis refers to the empirical research based on the technique of in-depth interviews. The main focus is on the two aspects of integration: the social and the cultural ones. The social aspect of integration includes: career trajectory, participation in the social life of the local community and interpersonal relations. The cultural aspect of integration includes: language skills, values and behavioural patterns as well as everyday culture and rituals. The analysis focuses both on individuals and on institutions, that is the activities of Polish-Irish associations, and stresses the factors impeding the integration process of Polish migrants. Those factors can be divided into: social factors such as weak ties with Irish people and institutions and desire to come back to Poland; cultural factors such as insufficient language skills and lack of knowledge of norms and behavioral patterns; legal factors such as reluctance to acquire Irish citizenship and unwillingness to participate in the Irish political life; and finally, spatial factors that is lack of contacts with the Irish people in the migrant’s local communities