Number of local events lined up for inaugural PolskaÉire festival

The inaugural PolskaÉire 2015, Ireland’s first Polish-Irish national festival, will have a number of local events over the next week when it gets underway this Saturday.

The first national Polish-Irish festival organised by Minister for New Communities, Culture and Equality, Aodhan O’Riordain, aims to celebrate the Polish community and culture in Ireland.

Supported by RTE, the Football Association of Ireland (FAI), the Polish Embassy, the Irish-Polish Society and Dublin City Council, PolskaÉire 2015 will host the following events in Louth:

• An ‘Easter Crafts Workshop with Polska Szkola Dundalk, hosted by Louth County Libraries and Polska Szkola Dundalk, will begin on Saturday 21st March at 11am in Dundalk Library.
• A ‘Workshop and Q&A session with members of Dundalk FC’, hosted by Louth County Libraries’ will take place on Wednesday 25th March at 4pm in Dundalk Library.
• A ‘Polish Irish Storytelling’ event, hosted by Louth County Libraries and Polska Szkola Drogheda, will take place on Saturday 28th March at 10.30am in Drogheda Library.

The festival has been welcomed by local Senator Mary Moran, who said: “I am glad that, as a local community, we are participating in the festival and it will be an opportunity to celebrate the strong Polish-Irish relationships which exist in our locality, and to focus on how we can strengthen them even further.

“The latest figures show us that there are approximately 1,880 Polish people living in Louth, who make a valuable cultural contribution to our community. It is through cultural activities and events such as the UEFA qualifier and the PolskaÉire events, which bring the Polish and Irish communities together.

“I am delighted that there are three fantastic cultural events in Louth from literature to sport, to provide a space for Irish people and Polish people alike to come together, appreciate our cultural differences and similarities and get to know one another better.

“I would like to encourage everyone in our community to join in the national celebration of PolskaEire and attend our community events. I would also like to thank the hard work done by Louth County Libraries, Polska Szkola Dundalk and Polska Szkola Drogheda in setting up the events.”

More details about the national PolskaEire 2015 programme can be found at www.polskaeirefestival.com

Sylwia enters local elections as independent candidate for Dundalk-Carlingford

Sylwia Jakubas hopes to win a seat on Louth County Council in May

Polish immigrant Sylwia Jakubas has declared her intention to run in May’s local elections as an independent candidate.

The mother-of-one from Carlingford, will be running in the Dundalk-Carlingford constituency.

Sylwia has been an active part of the Polish and Irish communities since coming to live here nearly eight years ago and runs a polish school where children can attend classes in their native language and learn about Polish tradition and culture every Saturday.

The school operates from the former Co Louth VEC building in Chapel Street in Dundalk and caters for children from around 25 Polish families.

She was also influential in setting up a Polish library in the Creative Spark, off the Inner Relief Road, but insists she would be looking to represent both the Polish and Irish community in Dundalk and Carlingford if elected.