MacKozer’s Irish diary
I would like to thank you all who voted for my blog on Irish Blog Awards. I wrote it once, but I am doing it again - I didn’t suspected so big feedback and popularity of it. I am glad that so many people found my opinions, reflections and photos of Ireland so interesting, and thanks to that I got some other opportunities than being a digger only.
Due to the feedback and your support I am thinking about my own Media/Internet self-employed business.
Go raibh maith agat!
Today, Sunday Times devoted its attention to the problem of avoiding Irish health care and dental service by Eastern Europeans. I am quoted in that article.
There is couple of reasons why Poles and other Eastern Europeans avoid it and prefer to cure themselves while visiting the homeland:
1. Price: Total cost of a dental treatment in Poland varies from 20 (simple treatment) to 50 Euro (cleaning channels etc.). It is not expensive, especially when we are in Poland visiting our families. Then we are going to dentist. So usually we don’t go to Poland only for dental treatment. Even if we have to go only for dental treatment: plane tickets cost now even less than 20 Euro one way. (I paid 17,50 one way)
2. Lingo: Most of the Eastern Europeans don’t speak proper English enough to explain what is going wrong or what pains.
3. Confidence: We trust our doctors and dentists in Poland. They are usually like a family ones. We usually have used their services for years and we don’t want to change it. I have just found out that some Poles don’t trust Irish health system and dental service. There are a couple of examples, when my friends had to wait 3 or 4 hours to visit a doctor of the first contact - as we call it.
4. Attitude to the living in Ireland: most of emigrants mentally still live in Poland. I mean they are working here, earning money, but they eat Polish food (which is available here), watch Polish TV (Satelite receivers - kind of SKY - brought from Poland), reading Polish press (issued in Ireland and brought from Poland), and living virtual live in Poland (via Internet). The only thing we can’t bring is a health care and dental service. But we can go and use it while we are in Poland (see point 1).
Yesterday I learned (thanx to Primalsneeze) that my blog has been nominated for Irish Blog Awards in two categories: best photo blog and best newcomer blog.
Apart of the question will I win in those votes I am just glad to know that my blog (English eddition in fact) has some readers and viewers and a lot of feedback on the questions and issues I describe. I must admit I have never before suspected that due to my bloging activity I got some opportunities to became a journalist/columnist for both Polish and Irish press. Thanks to that blog I got 4 columns and pages in Polski Hearald (Friday Evening Herald supplement), got an interview on air of Today FM, and give my opinions to the journalist of Irish Examiner and Metro Eireann. Moreover, thanks to being a bloger I have discovered so many other blogs and people in fact.
Go raibh maith agat! Bhi s?? go hiontach!
As I wrote a couple of days ago, Ireland is an Internet backwater despite of being a European centre of great IT and computer brands.
I haven’t changed my opinion about the very low quality of Internet services, especially about the helpless quality of Vodafone 3G. The reality in the other parts of IT is not good as well. In Ireland, Internet as a medium seems to be a unwanted child by many, especially by some of the local authorities - in example Nenagh.
Have you visited official Nenagh website - www.nenagh.ie? Apart of some usefull information about accommodation and buses it is not a convincing promo of the town. There is not so many photos showing tourist attractions in the town and its vicinity.
Apart of small forum on boards.ie Nenagh has no local coumunity web service (we call it portal in Polish) - kind of a local newspaper and forum online.
It concerns not only Nenagh and not only Irish community but Polish too. Apart of some good - let me call it - nationwide “Polish in Ireland” webservices there is no local ones that aim at the Polish communities of small towns - like Nenagh.
Ireland compared to Poland, seems to be a virgin land to start its own IT or electronic media business. For the last couple of weeks I have been thinking about that very much and about setting up my private, self-employed business.
Meanwhile, for the last 10 days I have been working (mostly at night) on a first community webservice (Portal) of Polish community in Nenagh. Due to my experiences in bloging (I got lot of e-mails full of thanks for providing information about Carlow and Nenagh) my intention is to provide as much as possible up to date data and information about Nenagh and to create a web platform that will assemble Polish community and maybe will help in its integration in Irish society.
It is still under construction, and it needs about one or two weeks of work, but the service is operating and providing some useful information for local Polish community. Check this out: www.nenagh.pl
It is based on Drupal 5.1 engine.
Last Friday - February the 2nd, Polski Herald - Evening Herald supplement, published my another article that concerned application of about 1000 Poles to Police Service of Northern Ireland. I presented the same opinion as in my blog posts, that you can read here.
It is my 4th article/column published in Polski Herald in the last 5 months.
Recent Comments