Polish eyes are smiling for Ireland

Hitching an Irish flag to the baggage rack, the green-shirted fans take their seats in the express train to Poznan, where Ireland take on Croatia in their Euro 2012 opener on Sunday. One adjusts his jester-style wig in the Emerald Isle's colours of green, white and orange, and cracks a joke - in fluent Polish. Supporting two teams in a football tournament may be common among fairweather fans, but for Poles, the sentimental pull of Ireland means it's about far more than hedging their bets. "We support Poland and we support Ireland too," 35-year-old Tomasz Nawrot told AFP. "The Irish have great support from Poles. It seems like half of the Polish nation has relatives in Ireland!" Ireland is home to tens of thousands of Poles, including Nawrot, who had travelled over specially for Euro 2012. Ireland, along with Britain and Sweden, threw open its labour market to citizens of ex-communist states such as Poland as soon as they joined the European Union in 2004. Estimates for the size of the Polish community in Ireland stretch from 150,000-250,000 - many of them having moved there during the property boom which opened the way for thousands of construction jobs - making them...