An injustice to Ireland & Poland by Donie

Polish ambassador challenges ‘the accuracy’ of an newspaper article on Polish girl ‘Magda’

   The Polish Ambassador to Ireland has written to the Irish Independent concerning a “potentially inflammatory” article published by the newspaper today. 

The article, quoting from a report in Poland’s Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper, claimed that a Polish woman – using the pseudonym ‘Magda’ – has been speaking about living the good life in an unidentified Donegal town, while claiming unemployment and other benefits.

However in his letter, Ambassador Nawrot said the authors of the Independent report use the facts presented in the Polish article in “a very selective and subjective manner”.

“The subject ‘Magda’ states in the Polish article: ‘I have a big problem with being unemployed, I don’t want to live at the State’s expense and for that reason I use this assistance to allow me start up my own business’,” Ambassador Nawrot wrote.

“I believe that this is the sentence that best summarizes the context of the original article and it is decidedly unfortunate that it has been omitted in your article.”

He said the report - which describes the life of the 36-year-old woman on Irish welfare benefits - is potentially inflammatory and risks causing an anti-immigrant atmosphere.

“The decision to remain in Ireland that so many Polish people made in the recent years is a decision to make a valuable contribution to the Irish state by living and working here, integrating with the Irish society and being a part of it all in good times and bad,” he wrote.

“It’s impossible to imagine that this decision, sometimes a very painful one, is made on the basis of the level of unemployment benefit or other kinds of support granted to the jobless by the Irish State.”

The Independent article has been the subject of heated debate online and in national media today, as the subject is claimed to have described her life on Irish welfare as a “Hawaiian massage”.

However Ambassador Nawrot denied that this statement had been made in the original Polish article.

“What she actually says is that she has completed a FÁS course in Hawaiian Massage and that she’s planning to open a massage business next year,” the Ambassador wrote.

Meanwhile Donegal Labour Senator Jimmy Harte - who was contacted by the Independent about the article – said he wasn't given the full story and he'd happily take his comments back if the article is wrong.

Senator Harte had told the Independent that ‘Magda’ was “doing an enormous disservice to the Polish community in Co Donegal”, and offered to pay for her flight home.

Polish waitress packs in job in Donegal for the ‘good life’ on Irish welfare

  

A POLISH waitress living here has sparked fury after she boasted about living the good life on Irish welfare benefits. ‘Magda’ (36), not her real name & not the picture above right, described her life on the dole in Donegal as a ‘Hawaiian massage’.

She revealed how she had packed in her job so she could spend her days walking along beaches with her partner.

He in turn bragged about the county’s wonderful golf courses.

Magda claimed she earned €67 more a week on the dole than she did while working and that her welfare payments are €182 more every week than back in her native Poland.

The shocking boasts in a Polish newspaper have ignited another debate on welfare tourism, with one Labour senator last night offering to pay for her flight home.

The ex-waitress told the Polish newspaper ‘Gazeta Wyborcza’ that instead of working she takes advantage of free education courses and goes Surfing.

“How do I live? Wonderfully. I get an allowance of €188 a week plus €59 for the flat. In the winter I get an extra €20 for fuel. It’s €267 a week,” she said.

Magda doesn’t identify the town in Co Donegal where she lives but she does call it a “s***hole”.

Asked to describe her lifestyle, she went on: “The day starts in the same way. I go to the beach to watch the sunrise. It energises me for the rest for the day.

“Sometimes I sleep till noon and the nearest beach is five minutes away.

“What’s our house like? Well, you can hear the ocean from the windows,” she added.

Her partner Robert also bragged about life on the dole in Ireland, saying: “I won’t get out of bed for €8 an hour especially when I have the sound of the ocean, golf courses and beautiful scenery.”

Welfare: The Polish newspaper article compares Madga’s life on benefits with what she would earn working as a waitress in Poland, where the average weekly wage is just €85.

Dole payments in Poland are less than in Ireland, averaging just €36.50 a week.

There is no housing benefit and there are strict time limits on social welfare payments.

Welfare claimants can only claim for three months if they quit a job and six months if they are fired, said the report.

Instead of working Madga said she spent her time at a local surf school and learned how to do sign language at the local VEC college.

She also noted the ‘generous’ winter fuel payments of €20 a week which compared with no such payments in Poland, where temperatures yesterday dipped to -13C.

Last night a Labour senator based in Donegal said the claims were ‘outrageous’.

Senator Jimmy Harte says: “This woman is doing an enormous disservice to the Polish community in Co Donegal and to other hard-working non-nationals.

“She has clearly taken advantage of Irish hospitality. I would like to see her go back to Poland and if we can find out who she is, I’d gladly pay for her flight home.”

He added: “Apart from her clear intent to take advantage of our social welfare system, to describe her home as a s***hole just adds insult to injury.”