Abstract
After the 2004 enlargement of the European Union, some countries opened their labour markets to citizens from the then new member states. This opportunity to seek gainful employment abroad eventually resulted in having the Polish diaspora become the largest ethnic minority in Ireland. That they were economic immigrants notwithstanding, some of the Poles who came to live in Ireland also got engaged in social activism. Many Polish newcomers’ first contact with the diaspora took place via the existing Polish migrant organizations and the Polish chaplaincy. The currently much larger and diverse sector of diaspora organizations keeps undergoing dynamic changes. The aim of this paper is to identify which model of self-organizing is enacted by this sector and whether it differs from the rest of the Polish community on the island as well as from the civic entities in Poland and Irish charities. Methodology-wise, the paper is based on an analysis of existing studies coupled with participant observation. It concludes that participation in institutionalized self-organization abroad differs from civic engagement in Poland and from Irish charities. Unlike the Polish community in this country, Polish grassroots entities in Ireland engage in diaspora activism.
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