Thousands of Polish people living in Ireland today queued to cast their vote in Poland's snap parliamentary election.
Around 21,000 Poles registered to vote and ballots were cast at the country's embassy in Dublin, Cork and at the Irish-Polish Cultural Association in Limerick.
Long queues formed outside the embassy on Dublin's Ailesbury Road since early morning, made up
A Polish lady casts her vote at the Polish Embassy in Dublin for Poland's snap parliamentary election.
mostly of young immigrants to Ireland aged in their 20s and 30s.
Ireland has become home to tens of thousands of Poles since the country's accession to the EU in 2004, and the issue of economic prosperity at home loomed large on the minds of many who today waited to cast their vote.
"Some of my friends, we are still trying to go back to our native country," said Atur Los (32) who has been living in Ireland for around a year. "We would like to make a future for ourselves over there as well.
"We are thinking about our families." Marta Lutoslawska (26) said the majority of Poles were concerned about the future.
"People want a better standard of life at home," she said. "The future is important for people here."
Traffic was brought to a standstill in the picture-postcard street in the heart of Dublin's embassy district, with passing cars stopping to gaze at the long queue along the tree-lined road.
Polls opened at 6am and were due to close at 8pm. An embassy spokeswoman said there were 14,000 Poles registered to vote in Dublin, with more than 3,000 in Cork and Limerick each.
The snap election was called two years ahead of schedule after the Law and Justice Party - headed by controversial prime minister Jaroslaw Kaczynsk i- fell out with its junior coalition partners.