According to the Polish Embassy in Ireland, migrants are beginning to return to Poland in large numbers. Poland, which has struggled to attract construction workers home because of poor comparative wages, has been drawing on a pool of construction workers from Belarus, Russia and China to get essential infrastructural works off the ground.

With Poland co-hosting the UEFA 2012 European Football Championship with Ukraine, the country’s Government is hoping to persuade Polish construction workers based in the UK and Ireland to return home and take up Polish construction jobs.

In the first quarter of 2008, the number of Polish immigrants registered in Ireland dropped from 19,000 to 12,000, a 40 per cent decrease compared with the same period a year ago.

A strong Polish currency, as well as improved economic conditions, are contributing to the movement back east.

According to Jacek Rosa, Deputy Head of Mission at the Polish Embassy in Dublin the improving economic situation in Poland, strong Polish currency and the economic slowdown in Ireland are the main stimulants for the Polish workforce in Ireland to make a decision to go back home.

UK statistics show 38,680 Poles on the UK Home Office register of migrant workers in the third quarter of 2007, and 18 per cent drop on the previous year.