When the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, arrives in Warsaw tonight for a two-day visit he will meet a Polish government deep in crisis, with the junior coalition partner threatening to withdraw its support from the Prime Minister, Mr Jerzy Buzek.
The leadership of the liberal Freedom Union will ask the party on Sunday to withdraw its ministers from government and end its 30-month alliance with Mr Buzek's right-wing Solidarity group (AWS).
The latest row between the coalition partners was prompted by the Prime Minister's suspension of Warsaw's municipal government and the appointment of an emergency administrator to run the city. Plummeting opinion poll ratings over the past year have poisoned the atmosphere between the two parties as Mr Buzek's supporters blame the tough economic policies espoused by the Freedom Union for their own unpopularity.
Polish officials insisted yesterday that the coalition crisis would not affect the Taoiseach's visit, which Warsaw views as an important part of its strategy for speedy accession to the EU.
Ireland's profile in Poland received a boost this week when a prime-time television documentary trumpeted the success of the Irish economy and portrayed the country as an El Dorado for Poles seeking work abroad. Since the programme was broadcast, telephone lines at the Irish Embassy and the Enterprise Ireland office in Warsaw have been almost continuously busy with requests for more information from hopeful Polish emigrants.
More than 14,000 Polish jobs depend on Irish investors. The Taoiseach will be accompanied by representatives of 41 companies in one of the biggest trade missions the State has ever organised. During his visit, Mr Ahern will open Europe's largest cement kiln, which has been established by Cement Roadstone Holdings at Ozarow, outside Warsaw.
The Taoiseach will seek to reassure his Polish counterpart that Ireland is not among EU states which want to slow down the timetable for admitting Poland and its neighbours.
Popular support for EU membership has fallen to just over 50 per cent as a growing number of Poles, especially small farmers, conclude that the price of joining may be too high.
Officials on both sides claim that there are no bilateral problems between Ireland and Poland. However, Dublin is unhappy about Warsaw's failure to halt the stream of Polish applications for political asylum. Out of some 600 applications last year, almost all were from members of the Roma community who are unwelcome in some parts of Poland.
In view of Mr Buzek's political problems this week, however, the Taoiseach is unlikely to trouble him by raising the asylum issue.
