Tipperary Polish Society Now Formed

Picture shows: L- R Patricia Dabrowska, Marcin Skruch & Konrad Parzychowski, committee members of the newly formed Tipperary Polish Society.

In today’s world, people are immigrating to other countries from all around our world, often in search of work or improved working conditions, dreams of success and fortune or just plain adventure.  Polish people, just like Irish people past & present, have been immigrating for centuries. In the past we all had our reasons, Communism, War, Famine or simply Unemployment.

One good history example, worthy of note, can be found when one examines immigration during the first 6 months of 1847. Almost half as many Polish as did Irish people, immigrated to New York, the latter escaping the Great Potato Famine here in Ireland.

Today Polish people travel in search of a better life style, choosing to locate in many different countries, including Ireland. Indeed, according to the 2011 Census, 2.67% of the general population living in Ireland are now Polish, which makes them the largest single minority group living here. Since Polish people started arriving in Ireland they have begun to organise themselves in numerous ways. Everyone of them have found here in Ireland their own “harbour,” but sometimes they still feel totally lost & lonely in their own somewhat restricted private lives. Many of them have gotten themselves into a pattern of a,” Work to Home & back to Work again,” style of living, without any other motivation for further interactive community participation and integration. This creates a negative effect not just through their immediate contact with their family and limited friends, but with other existing multicultural societies and with Irish people, in the land they have choosen to adopt.

Polish people like the immigrant Irish bring new elements, new ideas, share culture and have the ability to gift existing Irish society, without we as Irish people realising their real potential in Irish society.

Patrycja Dabrowska first come up with the idea of creating a Polish-Irish society.  This new Tipperary Polish Society is the working name for this society which has a website. Soon she hopes many other members will join this society, just as have others like Marcin Skruch, Konrad Parzychowski who were first to join and now assist in running this growing Society.

Sunday 27th May 2012 last, was their first formal organised meeting and since then two meetings have taken place in Hayes Hotel here in Thurles.  These meetings have set out positive achievable goals and a working plan for the future. Plans like:-

1. Uniting Polish people here in Ireland.
2. Integrating closer with Irish society.
3. Promoting Polish culture, Polish and English language, combining Irish history with Polish History.
4. Promoting tourism and sport in Ireland & Poland.
5. Organising a variety of happenings, like Cultural Polish / Irish Festivals, that will help to further integrate Polish and Irish people.
6. Co-working with other Polish & Irish organisations which are already formed.
7. Giving support to existing Polish communities here in Ireland.
8. Holding integrated social gatherings in Thurles, Clonmel, Cashel & Nenagh, which could lead to tourism for the county & Poland.

Local Thurles Councillor Ger Fogarty supports the initiative and has stated, “I welcome this fantastic initiative by Patrycja Dabrowska and her committee. Every attempt to promote Integration & Tourism in Thurles & Tipperary is a welcome boost to our local rural economy and to all local businesses. I want to commend the Polish – Tipperary Society for the work that they have put into planning this society.

According to the last census over 250 Polish nationals now live just here in Thurles town. This initiative is a welcome contribution to integration in our local community. As we celebrate our heritage week, it is also important to celebrate the shared heritage of our two communities.

Over 35,000 dedicated Irish fans, including many from Thurles, flocked to the Polish city of Poznan earlier this summer, for the European Championships. Like the captioned Irish flag made famous by Thurles man Eoin Cantwell at those games, we need to send a message to Angela Merkel and the world that Thurles is very much open for business.”

To create something positive for people, people are needed, & that is why this newly formed Society is now looking for support from Polish people who would like to come & join this new promising project.

So if you have found or maybe you are looking for a “harbour” in Ireland, and you are open to integration, why not make contact. The Society is open to all Polish & Irish people living in Tipperary and will welcome new ideas which will help your local community.

So if you are from Poland why not check it out. Contact with the Society is very simple: Email: polishtipperary@polishtipperary.org or Tel – 052-7442750 or go to their website.

 Translation

Obecnie migracja ludnosci to zjawisko ogólnoswiatowe. Ludzie w poszukiwaniu lepszej pracy, szczescia czy bardziej dogodnych warunków klimatycznych zmieniaja miejsce zamieszkania wewnatrz kraju, kontynentu,  czy miedzykontynentalnie. Równiez Polacy od wielu lat migruja w rózne strony swiata. Kiedys robili to z powodu panujacego w Polsce komunizmu, a teraz w poszukiwaniu lepszego jutra wyjezdzaja do innych panstw, w tym do Irlandii.

W tej chwili wedlug danych statystycznych ze spisu powszechnego z 2011r. Polacy stanowia 2,67% populacji Republiki Irlandii. Oznacza to, ze stanowimy tu najwieksza mniejszosc narodowa.

Wraz z naplywem Polaków do Irlandii spolecznosc polska zaczela sie na rózne sposoby organizowac. Kazdy z nas przybywajac tutaj szuka wlasnego miejsca ale w zyciu codziennym stajemy sie czasem zgubieni. Wielu imigrantów po przybyciu tutaj, zamknelo sie w stalym schemacie praca-dom, a ich zycie czesto przypomina wegetacje. Czesto brakuje im motywacji do dalszych dzialan. Wplywa to niekorzystnie na dalszy rozwój rodziny, integracji ze spoleczenstwem, spoleczenstwem wielokulturowym, jakim zaczyna byc Irlandia.

W wielu miastach stanowimy duzy procent ludnosci przybylej z obszaru Europy o odmiennej kulturze, w zwiazku z czym wnosimy nowe wartosci do spoleczenstwa irlandzkiego chociaz sami czasem nie zdajemy sobie z tego sprawy.

W Clonmel od Patrycji Dabrowskiej wyszla idea o stworzeniu stowarzyszenia polsko-irlandzkiego i z jej inicjatywy zawiazalo sie stowarzyszenie o roboczej nazwie The Tipperary Polish Society wraz ze strona internetowa  http://tipperarypolishsociety.webs.com/. Do przedsiewziecia dolaczyli sie: Marcin Skruch, Konrad Parzychowski.

W niedziele 27/5/2012 odbylo sie pierwsze spotkanie organizacyjne. Wstepnie ustalono cele i plan dalszego dzialania. Cele te to przede wszystkim:

– jednoczenie Polonii w Irlandii

– integracja Polonii ze spoleczenstwem irlandzkim

– propagowanie kultury polskiej, jezyka polskiego i angielskiego, historii Polski i Irlandii, turystyki i sportu w Polsce i Irlandii

– organizowanie róznego rodzaju imprez, happeningów i festiwali zwiazanych z polska oraz irlandzka kultura oraz tradycjami umozliwiajac integracje polsko-irlandzka

– ksztaltowanie pozytywnego wizerunku Polaków

– nawiazywanie wspólpracy z organizacjami polskimi i irlandzkimi o podobnym profilu dzialania

– wspieranie wszelkich dzialan na rzecz Polonii w Irlandii (oswiatowych, biznesowych, itp.)

Aby realizowac cele i stworzyc cos wartosciowego potrzebni sa ludzie, dlatego stowarzyszenie poszukuje osechetnych do uczestnictwa w tym projekcie jak i dalszym dzialaniu. Kazdy z nas ma jakis bagaz doswiadczen, tych pozytywnych jak i negatywnych.

Znalazles lub poszukujesz swojej przystani w Irlandii, badz otwarty na integracje ze spolecznoscia polsko-irlandzka. Jestesmy otwarci dla wszystkich i  na wszystkie inne propozycje oraz udzial calej spolecznosci polskiej, irlandzkiej i nie tylko. Nie obawiaj sie, badz otwarty, a tym samym pomóz sobie i calej spolecznosci.

Osoby zainteresowane nasza dzialalnoscia prosimy o kontakt – Email: polishtipperary@polishtipperary.org lub na stronie http://polishtipperary.org/, mozna sie z nami spotkac osobiscie podczas organizowanych spotkan, informacje o spotkaniach znajdziecie na stronie stowarzyszenia.