Loyalists make Catholic Poles welcome

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Loyalists make Catholic Poles welcome

The contribution made by Polish pilots during the Second World War is being used as a weapon in the fight against racism in Northern Ireland.

An estate infamous for the expulsion of Catholics during the Anglo-Irish Agreement protests is welcoming an influx of Catholic residents from eastern Europe. And the Ulster Defence Association is so keen to prevent the new arrivals from leaving, it has leafleted Lisburn urging loyalists to support the migrant workers and their families, with one leaflet reminding loyalists of Poland's contribution to the war effort.
Eighteen Polish families and smaller numbers from the Czech Republic, Latvia and Lithuania have settled in the Old Warren estate, Lisburn, where the UDA is hoping to reverse the recent upsurge in attacks on immigrants, mainly in Protestant working-class areas. An Observer survey last year found that more than 90 per cent of all reported attacks on immigrants took place in loyalist areas.
'We wanted loyalist people to remember the contribution the Poles made to defeating Hitler,' said Colin Halliday, an ex-UDA prisoner who is now a community worker on the Old Warren estate. 'We were determined to counteract all the bad publicity loyalist areas received in recent years about racial and xenophobic attacks. So we pointed out that you couldn't be loyal to Britain and a racist.'
Halliday was talking inside the Welcome House, a new nerve centre for the Polish and eastern European families living throughout Lisburn. Inside the house in Dromara Park was Halliday's close friend Daniel Konieczny, from Jawor in Poland. He has lived in Lisburn for three years and works closely with Halliday and other loyalist community workers on the estate. Along with the staff at the Welcome House, Konieczny provides English classes for migrants and Polish classes for the Northern Irish residents of Old Warren, and they run joint Polish-Northern Irish soccer and basketball teams on the estate to integrate children from the indigenous and migrant communities.
Some of the eastern Europeans have become so integrated as to produce amusing results. 'Last July, during the marching season, this Latvian guy noticed all these Ulster flags going up in his street. So he went out and bought an Ulster flag, which he knew nothing about, so his house could fit in. He was flying it on the 12th, even though he hadn't a clue what it was all about,' Konieczny said.
Fiona McCausland, who grew up in Lisburn and helps run the Welcome House, said local people were adamant that the migrants must feel this was their home. 'We made it clear to them that, if they wanted to send their kids to the local Catholic primary school, there would be no hassle. Some Polish communities in Northern Ireland that reside in loyalist areas send their kids to state schools; they fear that the uniform of a Catholic school might mark them out for sectarian attack.
'We were determined not to let that happen on the Old Warren estate. The community here liaised with the local Catholic primary school to ensure that those Polish families who wanted to could send their kids to St Aloysius's. It has worked wonderfully.'
Olga Dominiak came to Lisburn from Belarus two years ago with her husband and daughter. A Polish and Russian speaker, she acts as an interpreter at the Welcome House. 'We use this place as an advice centre for the migrant workers and their families. Many of them used to be afraid to ask for things they are entitled to, like child benefit. Now, through the classes and the drop-in centre, they are taking these benefits up. This place helped me integrate a couple of years ago and it's doing the same for dozens of others,' she said.
The scheme on the Old Warren is winning praise across the political divide, with Secretary of State Peter Hain calling it a model of tolerance and integration. Halliday agrees: 'The UDA in south Belfast has been studying what we do here. I have brought Daniel along to talk to fellow loyalists about how they can integrate the migrants into their communities. This is the way forward. It's all about combating ignorance and fear.'

Loyalists make Catholic Poles welcome | Special Reports | Guardian Unlimited Politics