Tipperary students highlight this town's links to Poland during ambassador's visit

Her Excellency, Polish Ambassador to Ireland Anna Sochanska paid a visit to St Mary’s Secondary School, Nenagh.

When she arrived at the school the Ambassador was met with a guard-of-honour and introduced to staff members, as well as representatives of the board of management, parents’ association; and Student Representatives Council.

The Ambassador and her Embassy colleague, Piotr Ziebacz, then met some of the school’s Polish students to hear stories of their Polish heritage.

One student said this of the experience: “In the prayer room a group of Polish students gathered to tell the Polish ambassador about their family history regarding the Holocaust and WW2.

“One of the girls even brought photographs, letters and a medal belonging to her family. I was very interested in what they were saying, everyone had a different and unique story, it was amazing.”

After this, a concert was put on in our hall in honour of the Ambassador. Many different students took part to display their various talents.

These talented groups consisted of musicians, dancers and singers. One thing that really stuck out among all of this was when All-Ireland Fiddle Champion Laoise Kennedy played a piece she composed herself in honour of the Ambassador’s visit

We were all very impressed at how well considered her piece was, as in it she incorporated a Mazurka which is a form of lively Polish folk music.

As well as this, many of our Polish students, along with a few Irish students, took the stage to give some readings, many of which showing the links between Ireland and Poland. This was a very important part of the event and highlighted the Polish-Irish links which were a main theme of the gathering.

The Ambassador was delighted to have such a wonderful event take place for her, and, of course, we were just as delighted to put it on.

After the concert the Ambassador met students and took the time to ask every student their name and to take pictures with those who wanted them.

I asked one of the Polish students attending our school, Aleksandra Lasa, how she felt about the event.

“It felt really nice to have such a celebration for something Polish. It’s never been done in this school before and it felt good to be represented. It was nice to hear traditional polish music composed by Laoise Kennedy as well”.

So many events took place on this day in honour of the ambassador and a few more of the highlights include a zoom call with Basia Berner, a veteran of the Warsaw Uprising.

We were all very interested in what she had to say and she gave some great advice about lifelong learning and how she has come to live such a long and healthy life.

A tree planting ceremony also took place outside our school. The Polish flag flew alongside the Irish tricolour as Her Excellency planted a tree surrounded by staff and students.