Now here is an historical twist! Signs are apparently appearing on ‘employment wanted’ signs outside Polish building sites - “No Irish Need Apply”!
The Belfast Telegraph tells us:
Labour tribunals in Ireland have been hearing cases of discrimination and exploitation of Poles and other central and eastern Europeans, against ruthless employers, squeezing the last euro out of vulnerable immigrants.
Quite where this story comes from originally is anyone’s guess and I can’t find out who actually saw these signs in the first place. Maybe someone can help? Onet.pl says the story came from the portal for Poles in the British Isles, mojawyspa.co.uk, although the story there brings us back to the Belfast Telegraph.
But if this is true, then…oh, what irony! My mum is from the Belfast area and she claims she saw, when she moved to Manchester in the 1950s, signs similar to the archetypal “No dogs, no blacks, no Irish…” in windows of houses with rooms to let - as in the photo above. That was before legislation making that kind of nonsense illegal.
It’s illegal, of course, to put signs like that up in Poland. Although, a good post here suggests that this story maybe a bad Irish joke. The beatroot will investigate.
The Belfast Telegraph tells us:
Trade union official Michael Kilcoyne - also president of the Consumers Association of Ireland - said it had recently been brought to his attention that the 'No Irish' signs had appeared on a couple of Polish building sites where workers were being sought.
Mr Kilcoyne said: "The reality is that our international reputation as employers has been sullied. Many foreign people who have worked here, especially during our boom years, have had bad experiences.
Labour tribunals in Ireland have been hearing cases of discrimination and exploitation of Poles and other central and eastern Europeans, against ruthless employers, squeezing the last euro out of vulnerable immigrants.
Quite where this story comes from originally is anyone’s guess and I can’t find out who actually saw these signs in the first place. Maybe someone can help? Onet.pl says the story came from the portal for Poles in the British Isles, mojawyspa.co.uk, although the story there brings us back to the Belfast Telegraph.
But if this is true, then…oh, what irony! My mum is from the Belfast area and she claims she saw, when she moved to Manchester in the 1950s, signs similar to the archetypal “No dogs, no blacks, no Irish…” in windows of houses with rooms to let - as in the photo above. That was before legislation making that kind of nonsense illegal.
It’s illegal, of course, to put signs like that up in Poland. Although, a good post here suggests that this story maybe a bad Irish joke. The beatroot will investigate.
UPDATE – So the nice lady at the Irish Consumer Ass. gave me Michael Kilcoyne’s number and I talked to him about where he got this story from. He said that he heard about it after a “caller to a phone-in programme on the local radio station in County Mayo said he had seen the advert…”. And that’s the source of this story.
Michael is a nice man and conscientious trade unionist, but one caller to a phone-in show is not usually enough evidence to make a story out of. To my knowledge, there is no such advert and never was. Unless, you know better…
20 comments:
No blacks, no dogs, no irish.
So, as Dave Allen pointed out, if you were a black irish wolfhound you were buggered.
One of my favourite jokes....
ah...dave Allen...I was made to watch him when I was a kid by my mum...love him!
A symbolic gesture really. I doubt there will be any Irish heading to Poland anyway!!!
It’s funny how things change alright though. There are more British people living and working in Ireland than any other non-Irish group.
Colonialists!
Are there any Ajrysz or Britisz football players on Polish teams?
Beatroot,
Any idea where the photo on the post came frm? You might remember that a couple of years ago we went ten rounds about the existence of such signs ever having appeared on the UK. It would be interesting to know its source.
As a consequence of a single phone in to a talk show and repeating the comment in an article another so-called journalist felt comfortable in writing the followings:
“'No Irish need apply' - the signs are already going up on building sites abroad in a throwback to the grim days of the last century. But this time they are starting to appear in Poland ” ………….Belfast Telegraph
With what appears to be without an effort to research and verify the validity of the information. At present I understand no one has found a jobsite in Poland with such a sign. Notwithstanding such professional incompetence there are consequence of such articles that go far beyond just lamenting the state of journalism.
In a world were economic opportunities are shrinking such journalism can make things very uncomfortable for Polish workers in Ireland. To add icing on the cake one of Irelands leading employers has substantively transferred production to Poland.
Wel...that is the point I was making, Jan.and this is a process where "news stories" are made. the irish politician hears a story that fits with his trade unionist agenda. And his motives for doing that were good, I am sure since talking to him. But then some desperate journo picks it up and a sub editor writes a nice headline...and all the time it's just bullshit. It makes you wonder how much of what we read as "news" smells of cow poo...
BR wrote: "My mum is from the Belfast area and she claims she saw, when she moved to Manchester in the 1950s, signs similar to the archetypal “No dogs, no blacks, no Irish…” in windows of houses with rooms to let - as in the photo above. That was before legislation making that kind of nonsense illegal."
--> What did the "similar" signs actually read? What was the legislation that was enacted?
The legislation was anti-discrimination law, which dates back only to 1963/4...and the similar signs meaning anything that discriminates a particular group...
It may seem starnge that a country didn;t used to have such legislation, but well..the US had segregation not so long ago...
Seriously, what did the signs actually read? Are there photos of these signs (the one you had in your post strikes me as something from the US). It's not that long ago.
No blacks, no dogs, no Irish is the classic, Geez. And I think that the photo is from somewhere in England. BWT, Jonny Rotten/Lydon, lead singer of the Sex Pistol's autobiography is called No Blacks, No Dogs, No Irish...
Ah, so it came from merry ol' England and was transplanted in the US:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/When_and_why_did_the_term_'No_Irish_need_apply'_originate
When did blacks in large numbers start arriving in England?
1950s...so that fits with my mum coming to Manchester and then London in the 1950s too...UK doesn't sound a very attractive place back then, does it?
Hmmm, so it came from the US in the mid to late 1800s and was transplated back to the UK?
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Sorry, but the "No Blacks, No Irish, No Dogs" signs, do seem to be an urban myth.
I was born in London in 1960 to Irish parents. I, them and none of their friends ever saw the signs, although we all knew OF them and as a teenager I very much wanted to believe them.
I heard it told about the 1950's and 60's and in my lifetime heard it repeated again about the 70's and 80's. Is it going to be repeated again about the 90's and 00's in another 20 years?
The only evidence I've seen is the same photograph provided by Jonny Rotten. He and Malcom McClaren can hardly be said to be reliable sources.
As for America - this is a very interesting article from Richard J Jensen, an American Irish Catholic academic, who points out how the (apparent) myth has been exploited by politicians. http://tigger.uic.edu/~rjensen/no-irish.htm
Please note, I am not claiming discrimination does not exist, however there are easier ways of being discriminatory than openly inviting a member of the very large Irish community to put a brick through your window (which I was dying to do as a willing to be offended teenager).
Penry
Sorry, but the "No Blacks, No Irish, No Dogs" signs, do seem to be an urban myth.
I was born in London in 1960 to Irish parents. I, them and none of their friends ever saw the signs, although we all knew OF them and as a teenager I very much wanted to believe them.
I heard it told about the 1950's and 60's and in my lifetime heard it repeated again about the 70's and 80's. Is it going to be repeated again about the 90's and 00's in another 20 years?
The only evidence I've seen is the same photograph provided by Jonny Rotten. He and Malcom McClaren can hardly be said to be reliable sources.
As for America - this is a very interesting article from Richard J Jensen, an American Irish Catholic academic, who points out how the (apparent) myth has been exploited by politicians. http://tigger.uic.edu/~rjensen/no-irish.htm
Please note, I am not claiming discrimination does not exist, however there are easier ways of being discriminatory than openly inviting a member of the very large Irish community to put a brick through your window (which I was dying to do as a willing to be offended teenager).
Penry
Sorry about the double post
Penry
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