Poles flee as crisis hits luck of the Irish

When the European Union expanded eastward in 2004, Ireland opened its doors to workers entering from former Eastern European states to help maintain record economic growth. Now, immigrants are heading for the exit.

The number of people leaving Ireland next year will outstrip those moving to the country for the first time in 14 years, according to Economic and Social Research Institute in Dublin. The biggest exodus will be among the 170,000 workers who arrived the past four years from Poland and other East European states.

"It's a very hard situation," said Artur Kawczynski, who lost his factory job in Galway on Ireland's west coast 10 days ago. "I rang my friends in Poland to ask what job opportunities there are like."