Lost in translation
I am a Polish person living and working in Ireland for the past seven years and would like to express my extreme disgust with the article about 'Magda'. I did not expect such a lack of professionalism from your newspaper. Having read the original article, it is obvious to me that what has been written in your paper does not accurately reflect the original.
I do agree, however, that the welfare system in Ireland is seriously flawed, given the fact that it does not make economical sense for lower-paid workers to take up employment.
However, this is the type of poor reporting that I would expect from the low-grade tabloids, somewhere in the back pages. This is why it comes as a great shock to me to see this inaccurate story on the front page of your paper. I have previously considered the Irish Independent to be a respectable paper, one that I have purchased on the regular basis over the past number of years.
Jolanta Landowska
Address with editor
I have read your report on the comments made by a Polish lady on social welfare in Donegal. Your writer uses expressions such as "boasting" and "bragging" rather than "she said" or "he said". Why does your newspaper disparage the remarks by using these words?
What is the real information we can glean from this report? Are the Polish more thrifty than us? Is the social welfare system designed to encourage a return to work or the opposite? Does it make any difference if she is Polish? Who is happier -- the working man, or a woman who is exploiting the system to her own financial and personal advantage?
Magda has done us a favour; her experience is that the Irish social welfare system has not been one of hardship, but far preferable to the life of work she previously knew.
It's as worthy of discussion as corrupt bankers, useless politicians, grab-and-run civil servants.
Mary Matthews
Ravel, Dunleer, Co Louth
As an Irish person who speaks Polish, I have read the original article on which the Irish Independent based its story about "Magda" in Donegal. Did the journalists who wrote the story simply apply Google Translate selectively to the original article in 'Gazeta Wyborcz'?
In the original article, Magda does say that some people think Donegal is a "s***hole" but that is clearly not her opinion as she goes on to talk about how beautiful the county is, and how welcoming the people are.
Perhaps the most significant omission from the article is the fact that Magda does not intend to stay on social welfare. She praises the Back to Work Allowance Scheme, which is giving her an opportunity to draw up a business plan, do a marketing and accounting course and get a driving licence in order to prepare for her business venture in Donegal (surely not something to be discouraged in these times).
The Irish Independent's article is an example of irresponsible journalism that will only fuel resentment and aggression. The same applies to the rash remarks of Senator Jimmy Harte.
James Kilcourse
Castlebar, Co Mayo
Irish Independent
