Immediate and short-term housing experiences and situations of Polish newcomers to Dublin, Ireland

The aim of this paper is to reveal one tranche of primary findings from an exploratory study with post-EU enlargement Polish migrants as the cohort in study. Relatively little is known about migrants’ housing experiences in Ireland and Poles are one of the largest migrant groups living in Ireland. Drawing results from a conceptual framework using the notion of housing careers, information was collected from the cohort using a blended approach of questionnaire survey and follow-up interviews. The specific research question in relation to this tranche asked: (1) what are their experiences living in different housing situations at the beginning of their Irish housing career? The analysis therefore considers those characteristics that comprised their ability to access good quality housing in Dublin’s complex and dynamic housing market in the early 2000s. In relation to the wider international literature regarding concepts of home, this work makes a contribution to the deepening scope of migration research in Ireland.