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Polish woman’s return echoes Irish experience

By Noreen Bowden | October 8, 2008

The Irish Times provides yet another example of how the Irish experience as an emigrant nation is being replicated among our community of immigrants.

Magda Jelonkiewicz writes today of how, after six years of living in Ireland, she is joining the thousands of Poles who are returning home. As she pondered her decision, she found herself taking advice from her Irish friends, returned emigrants themselves:

My Irish friends who had once emigrated and came back were very supportive, encouraging me to take the plunge. In hindsight, none of them had regretted their decision. I was warned, though, come-backs are tough. I asked “returned Poles” for their feedback online, too. Stories of doom and gloom followed. Most of the respondents got depressed and eventually, unable to cope with the Polish reality, opted for the immigrant life.

She has decided to return home after facing a series of setbacks, and finds herself facing some of the same questions that must be faced by any returning emigrant:

Nevertheless, I decided to proceed with my plan to move home. There would never be a right time. Now is as good as tomorrow or a year. My decision to go back was based on personal reasons. I wonder, though, if the recession in Ireland will influence my Polish friends to take the same course. How will we be received at home? Will we be determined enough to stay and look for employment matching our skills? Will we fit in?

Read the entire article at the Irish Times website.

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