Introduction:
The Irish Polish Society is the first Polish organisation in Ireland with full EUWP membership (Europejska Unia Wspólnot Polonijnych – Union of Polish Communities in Europe).
Events which the IPS have organised include lectures, concerts, art exhibitions, literary events, educational conferences, family days, debates, poetry readings, films, celebrations of both major Irish and Polish national holidays, social gatherings and other cultural, educational and traditional events. These have been well attended by our members, Polish Ambassadors, Irish Ministers of State, other dignitaries and the general public. Membership is open to all who live on the island of Ireland and have an interest in Poland and Polish-Irish relations.
The IPS is gratefully sponsored by its members, Ognisko Polskie, Dublin City Council, the Polish Embassy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, specific and others.
It is managed on a strictly voluntary basis by an elected committee of 12 people.
The IPS Annual General Meeting (AGM) took place on Sunday, 21th February 2024. There were some major changes in our Society’s management.
The new IPS Committee is now as follows:
A new Irish Polish Society Committee for 2024 with our Chairman Mr Patrick Quigley, Vice- chairman Jarosław Płachecki, Honorary Secretary Chris Wolny, Honorary Treasurer Jaroslaw Glowa and the Committee Members: Krzysztof Kiedrowski, Marysia Harasimowicz, Kevin O’Neill, Hania Dowling and Tamara Niekludow. New IPS members at the AGM were: Eva Zych, Piotr Otręba and Joanna Kossykowska. We are expecting great things this year with new books, lectures and exhibitions on the history and cultural activities of Poles in Ireland. It’s what we do. All visitors and new members are welcome in the Polish House in Dublin!
We thank those Members who already paid the IPS annual 2024 subscription. We ask all Members who have not paid yet to do this, please. It is only 12 Euro student fee, 15 Euro individual member fee and 20 Euro family fee. Membership fee (cheques, postal orders) should be sent to our new Honorary Treasurer, Deirdre Holland. Address: 18 Allen Park Road, Stillorgan, Co Dublin.
You can make a lodgement directly to the Irish Polish Society account. The details are:
Irish Polish Society, Allied Irish Bank,100 Grafton Street, Dublin 2.
Sort Code: 93-10-47
Account No: 56363006
IBAN: IE71AIBK93104756363006 BIC: AIBKIE2D
PLEASE NOTE: It is very important that the details of the payment are sent to our Treasurer for her record. You can contact us by e-mail: ips.dublin@gmail.com
Due to the voluntary nature of the organisation and the fact that the majority of the IPS committee have full time employment commitments, the committee is usually unavailable during normal working hours. The majority of our correspondence, meetings and events take place after 18:00 during weekdays or in the afternoon during weekends and public holidays.
History of the Irish Polish Society:
The roots of the Irish Polish Society go back to the election of Polish Cardinal as Pope John Paul II. On the initiative of Polish Jesuit, Fr Klaus Cieszynski, on 7th January 1979 the first steering committee of the Irish Polish Society was set up. The formal creation of the Society took place in connection with Pope John Paul II’s historical visit to Ireland (29th September-1st October 1979).
It is a non-profit and non-political organisation whose purpose is to promote friendship, mutual understanding and integration between the Polish and Irish communities through social and cultural activities.
After the ‘birth’ of Solidarity movement in Poland (August 1980) the Society began actively lobbying for democratic changes in Poland.
During Martial Law in Poland, imposed on 13th December 1981, the IPS organised substantial aid to Poland. Some twenty containers of medical supplies, food, clothing were shipped from Dublin to Poland.
For the first years the meetings and gatherings of Poles and their families and friends used to take place in Miltown College where the Society’s founder, Fr Klaus Cieszynski, was then a student. Thanks to a generous legacy from the estate of Wanda Petronella Brown, a Polish lady who married an Irishman, a large Georgian building at 20 Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin 2, was purchased in 1986. This became the home of the Irish Polish Society.
A new chapter in the development of Irish Polish relations began with the collapse of the Communist system in Poland, and in 1991 the Irish Polish Society established contacts with the newly opened Embassy of the Polish Republic in Ireland.
In advance of EU enlargement we hosted several meetings and conferences with politicians and well-known public figures, both Irish and Polish. Our Society was committed to Poland’s accession to the EU.
In 2004 the greatest shift in the relation between Ireland and Poland came with the opening of the Irish labour market to Polish workers. Since then the IPS have been focused on how we should respond to the new situation. We wish to increase our social and cultural activities to promote integration of the new Poles through events and information.
Since 1979 the IPS is a non-political organisation for social and cultural inclusion and co-operation in Ireland. New members are very welcome. Annual membership for the residents of Ireland is only € 15 per person, €20 per family, € 12 for students. The Irish Polish Society motto is: Integration, Friendship, Tradition.
Jarosław Płachecki
IPS Chairman
ips.dublin@gmail.com
plachecki.dublin@gmail.com