“No Irish” need apply
By Primal Sneeze ~ January 7th, 2009. Filed under: Builders, Irish identity, Media, Pub talk.
For a couple of months now I have been hearing pub-talk about signs appearing on building sites in Poland saying “No Irish”. A kickback to the “No Irish need apply” signs that appeared in the UK after the war and the “No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs” signs on boarding houses in the 1960s.
Like all pub-talk, I expected it to die out and be replaced with a new fad pretty quickly. After all it had just recently replaced the “the Nigerians had ways to get into the [telephone] exchanges to phone home – that’s why eircom put new locks on them” and I expected the next to be something along the lines of “the Jews have their own men in every government – that’s why they’re getting away with what they’re doing in Gaza”.
I was wrong. Instead of dying out it resurged.
Siptu trade union official Michael Kilcoyne babbled about these “No Irish” signs to the media and suddenly it was transformed from pub-talk to news. The Irish Times, the Irish Independent and the Belfast Telegraph ran the story. It was a hot topic on the boards. Even on some blogs.
In defence of the newspapers and blogs they hinged their reports on the fact it was Mr Kilcoyne, a union official, that said it, not what he said. However, each piece I have read was written in such as way lend credence to what he said.
The boards on the other hand, despise them as the pub-talk of the Internet as I may, at least questioned what he said.
None of my Polish friends have ever heard of these “No Irish” signs never mind seen one. No one I know who has travelled to Poland recently has seen any.
The Polish people I ask are flabbergasted. “Why would any Irish person want to work here? They’d have more money on the dole in Ireland” is the usual reaction.
That is not to say these signs don’t exist. They may, but I have seen no evidence they do. Nor, I suspect, has Mr Kilcoyne.
In short, Mr Kilcoyne, pictures or it never happened.
Are you fucking serious? I’ve heard the story a number of times and always snidely discredit it along the lines of “And how many Irish builders do you know working in Poland, where the wages are so bad one better be good at living on fresh air, who are readings signs presumably written in Polish, or are these nasty racist foremen taking the trouble to declare their Irish-bashing in English, etc?” Jaysus, are they letting any mongoloid into SIPTU now? What a bunch of idiots.
In fairness to Mr Kilcoyne , it was a failed attempt to point out that the treatment of Polish builders here might have led to resentment. Which is what set Tom Parlon howling about it.
But it is a quite silly story.
Not sure the wages are that bad – I saw while in Germany that German tradespeople are very busy in Poland, because they can make money there.
Yes, I think Aonghus has the right of it. Numerous cases being taken by Polish tradesmen who were underpaid by contractors, some of whom were wrongly advised by accountants about the minimum wage payable in the sector.
I’ve heard of one case of a small contractor owing 20k+ in total to a few workers who were underpaid over a two-year period. Contractor now bust, and being pursued for the money.
Parlon is a complete wanker but because of an ‘in’ with his former pals in Cabinet may be on the cusp of getting a sweetheart deal to rescue speculator builders.
Who needs proof when rumours can are so effective to push your cause. I might start one here that you are a black Jew who puts up notices saying No Builders May Apply. I wonder what that might achieve…
@Sweary – I find it laughable when authority figures take rumours as truth without checking the facts. Like when Bertie thought we had a knowledge economy and were the world’s largest software producer.
@Conan Drumm & @aonghus – Why do you guys have to be so damn sensible?
Yes, Kilcoyne had a very valid and important point to make. But that was not the way to make it.
@Conortje – But I am! And I do!
Whatever about Irish tradesmen, I bet there’s a bunch of Irish ‘developers’ coining it in Eastern Europe.
A “Mullagh” of them I reckon.
@Primal Sneeze – Ceist mhaith. Habit. And not having any good puns to hand to polish the story.
Com’on! You can do puns in English. You can do them as Gaeilge and auf Deutsch so why not English?
We have time traveled back to 1988 where the Irish are the blacks of Europe but at least we a president to represent us in the the Whitehouse
And the North-siders were the blacks of Dublin?
I’m told the wages are shite by a couple of disenfranchised Poles I’ve managed to befriend, despite their appalling racist attitudes towards Irish builders.
I like Quickroute’s attitude. Chin up, dawg!
I like my Polish friends, disenfranchised or not. Dobry? Most are just disenchanted.
And yeah, yo muddar, to the Quick!
gawd, i love all y’all!
Just don’t trust your plumbing to a Dalbeag man. That’s all I’m saying.
Dia duit! Is maith linn Eireannaigh. Seriously, you guys are smart and Ireland has a lot in common with Poland in terms of history and probably way of life as well. I don’t think the rumour is actually true…