EU Meetings
Dail Éireann — 2026-03-26
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Thomas Byrne (FF), Meath East

What the Polish people have done in supporting refugees from Ukraine, as well as giving military support, has been extraordinary. At the start of the war people arrived off trains or off transport and were met on the platforms by Polish residents and brought to their homes. We can account for millions of people who have benefited from that. There is a strong desire in Poland to see Ukraine accede to the European Union. I have had much conversation on this topic with counterparts, with the chargé d'affaires here, and with our ambassador.
The Deputy is right to emphasise the strong links between Ireland and Poland. We have about 96,000 Polish people living in Ireland but I think there are about 100,000 people living in Poland who used to live in Ireland. There are at least 10,000 children in Poland who have Irish citizenship. It is quite extraordinary that there is a St. Patrick's Day parade in a place like Lódz, which is one of the biggest cities in Poland. To see the celebration of St. Patrick's Day in Lódz and in Warsaw really brings a new meaning to the word "diaspora". The Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, has been doing work on this too. It is a reverse diaspora of people who were here, who have exceptionally fond memories of this country, and who want to continue to build the links.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-03-26/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:47+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-26