Poles see Celtic Tiger dream turn to nightmare

FOR hundreds of destitute Polish nationals living here, the Celtic Tiger dream has become a nightmare.

Up to 600 Polish people in Ireland are now homeless, according to estimates from Polish embassy officials in Dublin.

A sharp rise has been recorded in the numbers of Polish nationals who, disillusioned by their situation here, have sought to return home. Increasingly, many are availing of a Government scheme to repatriate them free of charge.

Up to mid-July, 207 Polish nationals had returned home under the repatriation programme run by the Department of Justice’s Reception and Integration Agency.

For all of last year, 142 Poles were repatriated under the scheme, while 51 availed of the programme in 2004.

Charity workers are reporting an increasing number of well-dressed Polish immigrants among the ranks of the homeless in the Dublin area.

Poles in Ireland now number 150,000 — the second largest non-national ethnic group after Britons. Lured by stories of plenty of work and good pay, the majority have arrived in the two years since Poland secured EU membership.

Many nationals from the eastern European accession states who came with limited savings in the hope of finding employment are most at risk of homelessness when their money runs out. Those with little or no English have found it particularly difficult to find work, according to anecdotal evidence.

Officials in Poland are reported to be considering setting up an emergency fund to help citizens in foreign countries.

While still relatively small, the take-up for the free repatriation scheme by Slovaks, Hungarians and Latvians has also increased substantially this year.

Up to mid-July, 53 Slovaks had returned home under the Government scheme.

This compares with 69 for 2005 and 11 in 2004. Some 26 Hungarians have used the scheme to return home this year to date, compared to 19 last year and 13 in 2004.

The Department of Social and Family Affairs is reviewing restrictions on social welfare payments to immigrants from EU accession states.

Meanwhile, the number of Brazilian nationals refused permission to enter the State at ports and airports has doubled since the start of the year.

This follows a major new clampdown on illegal immigration between Ireland and Britain.

Gardaí believe a large number of Brazilians were coming to this country on the pretence of holidaying here — and then using the common travel area between Ireland and Britain to settle illegally in Britain.

In the six months of 2006, some 547 Brazilians were refused permission to land. Last year, 605 were refused, and 491 in 2004.

Brazilians account for by far the biggest single group of foreign nationals currently being refused.

The total number of all foreign nationals being refused permission to land reached 2,704 by June 30 this year. This compares with 4,813 for 2005 and 4,844 for the previous year.