Monksland hosts Polish election station

Monksland Community Centre was an official polling station for the Polish parliamentary election on Sunday last as Polish nationals living in the region gathered to vote.

Around 2,000 people were registered to vote at the Monksland Community Centre travelling from near and far, with ten voters queuing at 7am when the doors opened. The busiest part of the day was from 11.30am to 4pm with a long queue reaching up to the main road.

There were 11 polling stations in operation across Ireland with one in Athlone, Limerick, Kilkenny and Galway, two in Cork and five in Dublin.

Voters were obligated to register to vote online prior to the election and could choose what polling station they wished to vote from. Monksland resident and Wojtek Wrobel said that voters at the polling station in Monksland travelled from areas in Westmeath, Offaly, Longford, Roscommon, Sligo and Cavan.

Mr Wrobel said that he was happy with the turnout and that he didn't expect that many people. “Over 1,700 people voted on Sunday in Monksland Community Centre," he said.

The local centre was contacted by the Polish Embassy in early August requesting use of the facility. This was followed by a site inspection and approval of the facility.

The staff appointed by the Embassy were on site from 1pm on Saturday, October 14 to noon on Monday, October 16. Voting took place on Sunday from 7am to 10pm followed by counting through the night and verification with the homeland on Monday morning.

About 24,500 Polish nationals living in Ireland had registered to vote across 11 polling stations in the country. Any person over 18 with Polish citizenship in Ireland could register to vote. The election was organised by the Polish Embassy.

Any person over 18 with Polish citizenship in Ireland could register to vote in the election.