By Paul Gorry, August 2006
Baltinglass is now home to people whose origins represent all continents. We have Americans, Argentineans, Australians, Canadians, ethnic-Chinese, Dutch, Indians, Italians, Kosovars, Latvians, Lithuanians, Nigerians, ethnic-Pakistanis and Poles.
In December 2005 the Baltinglass Justice Group held a ‘Welcome’ event for foreign nationals at the Lalor Centre. It was attended by over 50 people, made up of Irish ‘natives’ and a wonderful mixture of nationalities. The youngest guest was two week old Edgaras Janberg, the first Irish-born member of the Baltinglass Lithuanian community. It was an attempt to bring greater contact between our new residents and the wider community, and it was a successful one. Prior to the ‘Welcome’ event at Mass in St. Joseph’s church the First Reading was delivered in Polish by a Baltinglass resident of nearly five years standing. This was the first time Polish was spoken from the Altar in our town.
Just a few years ago people from overseas were few and far between. Our cosmopolitan mix began in earnest with the arrival of the Kosovars.
Until 1999 there were very few people of foreign birth living in the Baltinglass area. In May 1999 the Irish government brought 48 programme refugees from the war in Kosova to stay in Rathcoran House (formerly St. Joseph’s Convent). Through family reunification and birth, their number had risen to 51 by the time that they were given the option to return to Kosova the following year. Sixteen Kosovars chose the alternative of remaining in Ireland, and all but one of them settled in Baltinglass.
As conditions in Kosova were far from ideal, with high unemployment and rebuilding of infra-structural necessities slow, some of those who left Baltinglass returned as migrant workers. There are now almost 40 Kosovars living in our community, with marriage and birth contributing to the increase. Eight adult Kosovars are now naturalised Irish citizens, while there are eight Irish-born children.
The Baltinglass Kosovars are ethnic Albanians. Their native language is Albanian. They are primarily Muslim, though their nationality is a stronger influence on their lives than their religion. Visiting one another’s homes plays a large part in the Kosovars’ lifestyle, and they have a huge interest in developments back home in Kosova. Nevertheless, through work, schools and social contact, they have developed firm bonds with the general community in Baltinglass. During the Cultural Weekend in June 2005 they took part in the parade, with some of the children wearing traditional Albanian costume. In 2006 the Kosovar community made a collective contribution to the Baltinglass Park development. The younger members are growing up as Irish Kosovars or Kosovar-Irish, with strong influences from both cultures.
In late 2000, when the Kosovars were just beginning to integrate, Inis Fáil became an asylum reception centre and about thirty asylum seekers came to the town. These people were from central or eastern Europe and Africa. Over the next few years, while new asylum seekers came, the overall number dwindled. Only a few settled in Baltinglass. Today there are only two families of former asylum seekers, one from Nigeria and the other from Congo. The Nigerian family was granted leave to remain in Ireland early in 2005 in the ‘Irish-born Child’ amnesty, after they received some 40 letters of support from people in Baltinglass and Grangecon. (See Wicklow People article.)
By the beginning of 2001 Baltinglass was home to a small number of migrant workers from Poland and Latvia. Others from Romania and Lithuania came to the town, but there were no more than about 50 migrant workers in Baltinglass until May 2004, when the ten new accession countries joined the EU. Since then the migration of Latvian, Lithuanian and Polish workers to the Baltinglass area has grown to such an extent that their number cannot be accurately estimated. While many migrant workers intend only to stay in Ireland for a short period and don’t expect to integrate into the community, quite a number have put down roots in Baltinglass. In November 2005 Baltinglass’s first Irish-born Lithuanian baby was born, and its first Latvian followed shortly afterwards.