Wherever the Irish went or go in the world, we always have a great habit of sticking together and supporting each other. As I mentioned before in previous columns, the Irish are no strangers to racism and prejudice. In London in the ‘60s there used to be signs outsides places of lodging that said, “No Blacks, Dogs or Irish.”
So everywhere we went we formed Irish communities. Yet strangely enough, we seem surprised, when visitors to our shore, who are supporting our economy, do the same. In Dublin , there are Polish, Latvian and Chinese communities to name but a few.
But this does create problems, problems for you. If you want to do the jobs your qualifications demand that you do, you must learn our language fluently. By our language, I mean English, not the Gaelic that we are trying so hard to keep from dying!
And Poles, living with Poles, mean you speak Polish! To take it small steps at a time, at least integrate with other nationalities, where you can only communicate in English. This will help your fluency, and give you the confidence to go for the jobs and careers that you are qualified for.
Now, please rest assured, I am not asking you to abandon your culture and heritage. Far from it, we actually need what you can bring to us, since difference, bonded by common goals, is what makes for a great community.
But to succeed, and I mean really succeed, you must speak the language fluently. You need to understand the subtleties and nuances of what we say, so that you can add your value to the conversation. You must be able to state you case eloquently and efficiently.
That was the one thing the Irish had in our favour. We spoke the language in the UK, USA and Australia. And we were and still are very successful.
And so you should be!
In Ireland we have a vision as a knowledge economy leading nation. And we need your skills, education, and most of all we need your diversity. We need to be shaken out of our complacency right now.
Ireland , has had amazing boom times, fuelled by a low tax regime and a fantastic education system. Many leading multinationals were attracted to our shores as a result, giving massive employment. This led to Ireland being the number 1 software exporter in Europe.
Then came the construction boom. This has provided both work and indeed homes for our new immigrant population.
But now, to sustain what we have, we need your minds as well. We need the industrious diversity that you can bring to us. We need you to integrate with us, and unite.
Together we will create a stronghold in Europe , in the next wave of the world economy. Europe can then truly challenge the US and Asia as the world powerhouse. And this will help all of the world, especially the accession states, since, many of you will return, just like we did, with great skills.
So lets all stand shoulder to shoulder, speaking with a common tongue, and lets show the world what we can do together.
Why, because we are winners, and we want to win as a united team.
Peter Lawless (peter@3r.ie) is a regular contributor to Metro Eireann. He runs a very successful sales and marketing consultancy, as well as providing business and personal coaching along with motivational speaking.
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