Poles flee N. Irleand homes after World Cup riots

news.bbc

Typical response from the Unionist community.

Typical anti-Unionist response!

I have alot of friends in the unionist community most of whom do not have their heads in the sand.

But this all seems like deja vu in Belfast dont you think ?

Again, guilty by association, what a sad state of affairs. Some people are still rooted in the tribalist days of Us Vs Them. Those innocent people should have been left alone.

Applause

If the above story is true then its a disgrace and sadly as you say deja vu. Lets hope it ends here. I fear there may be more tit for tat after the game in september.

Thanks. It's so tragic why Poles, who probably don't earn that much in Belfast, have to face hefty repair costs and violence when they did nothing wrong. It's the same old story, the idiocy of the few spoils it for the many.

Totally agree. As you know when times were hard in this country we populated every country we could in search of work. There are communities of people from Ireland all over the world.

I will ask a question ' when the Polish Worker was shot by the RIRA, did the Polish community in Belfast lash out against Republicans and furthermore where Irish people in Poland victimised as a result of this incident ?

I am with you 100% on this ireland32, it disgusts me as much as anyone.

Like the idiots who shot the Polish Worker. Thankfully the Polish community showed restraint over the issue and should be commended for doing so.

Well, it wouldn't have made sense to take revenge. I agree, commendable restraint.

No mention of the other victims or do you condone that portion?

They chose not to tar us all with the same brush due to the actions of a minority. In the same way the people of Belfast and throughout the North should choose to do so with the majority of Polish people, who like most of us in our time, have travelled to foreign soils to earn a crust.

Quite right! Many Poles set up delis abroad and give really tasty options to local communities there. They just want to make a living.

As I have previously stated on the thread that originally carried this story, I condemned the murder of the British Soldiers and indeed the PSNI Officer who were murdered by these idiots. They do not represent the wishes of the majority of the Republican community and the entire community in Ireland......North and South.

Henry McDonald The Guardian,

Friday 10 April 2009

Local units of the two main loyalist terror organisations in Northern Ireland were behind events that have seen 40 Polish migrant workers flee in recent weeks, the Guardian has learned.

Members of the Ulster Volunteer Force and the Ulster Defence Association in south Belfast organised the intimidation of the Poles over the past fortnight, security sources in the city said.

The attacks on Polish homes in south Belfast were believed to be in response to an outbreak of hooliganism by soccer fans from Poland during last month's World Cup qualifier at Windsor Park.

Before the crucial Northern Ireland versus Poland match in Belfast on March 28, a group of Polish hooligans smashed up pubs and attacked local fans.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland released figures yesterday revealing that in the aftermath of the soccer violence at least 40 Polish nationals had to flee their homes in the south of the city.

F*uck the Northern Irish. It can't be left without revenge.

Like always, there are bad buggers on both sides but the Polish hooligans should have known better than to rile them. Revenge is what perpetuates conflicts, Greg. Ask anyone from NI or EIRE or the ME.

Sheep, stop this nonsense. Breaking a few tables in a pub is nothing campared to atacking families in there own houses. Where were neighbours of these people ? F*uck them all.

spot on Grzegorz

Oh, I don't condone by any stretch what they did. Look at my comments above, doing that to innocent Poles was horrible and blatantly wrong. My sincere hope is that the Polish FA catches these hooligans and bans them from stadiums. They triggered this nonsense.

Do not tar us all with the same brush.

UVF now ah, civillian killers on the rampage again, the Polish in the northern irish area now might aswell go join the IRA low the **** out of them ********, thez go on rampage over football fight, football fights happen everywhere, is barly something worth all this....

thez go there faces beaten all over there own town and now when the big guys gone home they attack the local Polish familes and proberly small guys.....typical toughh guys ah

Reading other reports on it aswell it seems these numbers of Polish are exactly true or im not sure seems that its just 40 or more foreign nationals not just Polish, hungarians, lithuis and slovakians....the ulsters just seem to hate everyone but themselves

The simple problem was the Polish football Hooligans at the game, if they had not of kicked off, none of this would be happening now. Granted some people will use any excuse to pick on and attack others, however the Poles have shot themselves in the foot here by being bad losers.

Yeah, they got off with it in Lithuania but they got a wake-up call in NI. They need to learn that they can't go doing that kind of thing. No consideration of the consequences for their fellow countrymen.

Its the same with English fans, the minority spoil football these days for the majority, just look at thow the United and Chelsea fans were treated in Russia because of the reputation that follows our football fans.

You are a sick psychopat. How about now I will attack Irish/English family, break daddy's hands and **** on him, spit at mom and kick butt of the kids and then I will say that English/Irish shot themselves in the foot. Would you enjoy that, sick twat ?


Sheep, so maybe If somebody crush your skull then tribemen in the NI will learn that one should think about the consequences for their fellow countrymen ?

Come on Greg, Torny is not like that. All he was saying was that the Polish hooligans sparked this off (according to reports). They antagonised the NI fans, having spent the previous night demolishing pubs. Ask Torny, he'll say as I have. Read between the lines of his posts, Greg. He is saying that a few nobs spoil things for innocent people and that's a sad tale told throughout the course of history.

You are getting it all wrong Greg. It's appalling what they did to innocent Poles but action sparks reaction and we can sit behind out computers and thrash out the morality all day long but it doesn't change the fact that it happens. I can put myself in the shoes of the Poles who were attacked and I'd be angry and feel cheated too. Opening a can of worms is the worst possible result that can happen. A lot of work went into creating the peace process and even Sinn Fein worked overtime to bring about the Good Friday Agreement.

The bottom line is, I know the situation there much better than you Greg, it was my hobby for a long time to read up on it and if it is proven that the Poles (hools) started the fights, they have a lot to answer for. Undoing vital work.

If it were indeed Polish hooligans who started it, then they deserve to be brought infront of the law. I doubt any Poles living in N.I would have started this trouble. They would have known about the tension in N.I on a daily basis. I've yet to see a Pole say anything bad about the Polish hooligans at the match. Although the whole thing was blown out of proportion, you don't poke a sleeping bear with a stick. Alot of work went into maintaining the peace over there, whoever is at fault, should hang their heads in shame.

I completely agree, where is the condemnation here? All I hear is people praising Polish hools here, as if they are sth to be proud of. "We have the best hooligans", I've heard this many times.

Rock the peace process in NI and you'll get what's coming to you. Sorry, I can't condone attacks on innocent people but who am I? They will do as they will do.