Nearly 1,000 Polish people applied to join the Police Service of Northern Ireland in its latest recruitment, it emerged today.
The PSNI said it received applications from 968 Poles to join the force last November. This represents over 12 per cent of the 7,700 applications received in total.
There are an estimated 30,000 Poles living in Northern Ireland, while a further 150,000 reside in the Republic. The vast majority of them are Catholics.
Poland, which joined the EU in 2004, has an unemployment rate of nearly 16 per cent. Since accession, up to three million people have left the country seeking work throughout Western Europe.
The starting salary for a PSNI officer is £22,000 (€32,800) This is around four times the wage offered by the Polish police force.