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The aim of this paper is to provide basic information about the life cycle of the Slovak migrant community in Dublin in 2004 - 2013. The empirical material is presented from three theoretical perspectives: theory of social innovations (Mumford, 2002), theories of social identity (Turner et al., 1987) and theories of transnational migration (Glick Schiller et al., 1995). The first part of the paper describes the creation and development of two social innovations: the migrant NGO Slovak Centre - Ireland and the magazine Slovak in Ireland. The second part analyses whether and how these innovations create space for everyday practice of (national) identities of migrants. The third part analyses the transnational aspects of the Slovak migrant community. The paper is based on empirical material gathered through semi-structured interviews with leaders of the Slovak community in Dublin (N=7, 2009, since then contacted continually via e-mail and Facebook), analysis of media and websites dedicated to Slovaks in Ireland (2009 - 2013) and short-term participant observation (2009). Our data suggest that social innovations described in this study are successful and sustainable especially if: 1) they are based on real needs of the community and created from below; 2) they are taking place in the context of existing systems and are financially independent of grant schemes funded by the Slovak government; 3) there is a favorable environment in the host country. It is concluded that the social innovations described in this paper have identity and community building potential and allow Slovak migrants not only to strengthen their social capital (Putnam, 2007), but also to function transnationally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2005, the Slovak print and broadcast media discussed reality TV 'events' as avidly as anything from the fields of politics, economics or culture. While the majority of entertainment programming on Slovak television is of foreign origin, the arrival of reality TV programmes that involved the use of local and foreign 'ordinary' contestants in unscripted settings before the gaze of a directly participating national audience appeared to redefine Slovak media culture for that year. Following an examination of the central properties of reality TV that have determined its worldwide success with national audiences, the ways in which reality TV reflected Slovak society will be discussed. In the absence of any ethnographic research, this article refers to a range of contemporary mass media sources collected in Slovakia and accessed electronically to assess the characteristic properties and developments of reality TV programming in Slovakia, its national impact on Slovak media culture and its possible implications for national self-perception through an examination of the discourses that defined Slovak reality TV in its first year of broadcast. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an analysis on the political performance and national identity in Slovak Republic and on the effect of the European policy framework on Hungarian minorities in the country. It asserts that the national identity in Slovakia has been established on collective descent ties wherein the Slovaks have been regarded as an ethnic nation that refuses territorial citizenship principles. Accordingly, Slovakia's approach to ethnic Hungarian minority lies in dominatingly believed national myth. It notes that the Slovak's national salvation is viewed by the Hungarians as a national trauma. It argues that the reason behind Slovakia's limit to the occupancy of Hungarian minorities was due to the country's participation in the European Union (EU).