This year marks the 20th anniversary of the collapse of communism in Europe, which began with the historic round table talks of February 1989 in Poland, the birthplace of the Solidarity movement.
When you go for holidays abroad, it’s not uncommon to face questions from the locals like ‘Where are you from?’ The answer to that one might seem easy – you’re from Poland, from Ireland or wherever – but these days it’s not always so simple.
Four years ago Filip Dawidzinski posted his very first online podcast under the name Nie tylko dla orlów (‘Not only for eagles’ – referring to Poland’s national emblem). It was the start of what’s become a very popular series among Poles in Ireland and beyond, but it all began by chance.
Many times I’ve heard that Poles and Irish are supposedly alike because we share the same religion. However, many common holidays are celebrated quite differently in Ireland than in Poland.
Many people would like to improve their abilities in public speaking, persuading, debating and ripostes. From this need, the concept of Toastmasters arose – a club where people can practice and hone their communication and leadership skills. The first Toastmasters club was set up in 1924 in California and today there are more than 12,500 across 106 countries conducted in a multitude of languages.
I’ve been living in rented accommodation for about 12 years now, constantly trying to make myself feel like home in different areas of different cities in different countries. As soon as I lock the door for the first time in a new place, I start putting up my pictures on the walls, filling shelves with my books and cover my bed with my grandma’s throws.
With the days getting colder, you’re probably wondering what to do at the weekend. If you exclude the outdoors and have no family to spend teatimes with, very few possibilities remain. ‘Let’s go to the shopping centre, then,’ you might say – but even that is impossible sometimes.
When Zuzanna Zelazny decided to move to Ireland, she thought that she would have to put her Master’s degree in clinical psychology away for some time.
I started a new job last week, but I almost missed my first day – preoccupied as I was after remembering it was the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the Second World War.
Unaware visitors to Dun Laoghaire recently may well have thought they were in the middle of some Irish summer course, thanks to the proliferation of bilingual signage around the popular port town.
A POLISH health clinic on Dublin’s Parnell Street claims it can eradicate addictions to alcohol and nicotine in just three sessions.
In just one recent weekend, 19 people were killed on Polish roads. Surely not the kind of holiday-time news we want to hear, but the message is repeated over and over like some terrible mantra.
Only two Poles showed up for a crash course in Irish organised last week by translation company Tadhall-Kontakt, with the assistance of Polish Express and the Polish Financial Centre. But they were dedicated pupils nonetheless.
I was born in 1978, which was a very good year. No, I don’t mean that I’m one of the ‘Pope’s Children’ (even though that was a big deal). What I’m really talking about is the summer that Kerry went for the first of three All Ireland football victories in a row – a feat they could be about to repeat this year, now that the Kingdom have reached the semi-finals.
At a time when many businesses are downsizing or shutting up shop altogether, Polish beauty and hair salons in Dublin seem to be bucking the trend, even though so many Poles are returning home.
Back in Dublin – and I’ve hardly felt like I’ve been away. The Irish Times is there on the paper stand every morning at the corner shop, and the city is the same as ever, except maybe the slowly growing roof of Aviva Stadium and the new Samuel Beckett Bridge across the Liffey.
Emilia Marchelewska recalls her childhood in Poland, where a single road separated its inhabitants into two separate lives
Yet another former Polish Prime Minister makes a career for himself abroad! Jerzy Buzek’s decision to contest for the top job in the European Parliament was widely commented on in the media in the same manner that surrounds important sporting events, where ‘must win’ is uttered in every second sentence. Well, he won out in the end – and a refreshing era for this institution begins.