Living Leeside: Michal Dymet is engineering a better life in the Rebel County

HAVING spent 15 years in Cork, Polish engineer Michal Dymet is loving life Leeside.

The 46-year-old, who works as an engineer with Cork County Council, moved over from Bydgoszcz after signing up to a recruitment agency in Poland.

“While working in Poland, I subscribed to some recruitment websites and after completely forgetting about it I had been contacted by a recruiter from Dublin who invited me for an interview on behalf of Cork County Council.

“I came in for an interview in July/August and by early September 2006 I received a contract in the post, starting as an executive engineer with Cork County Council at the end of September 2006.”

Michal has been a senior committee member (vice-chair) for Engineers Ireland Cork Region since 2018.

Living in Ballincollig, he said he is a huge fan of the Regional Park which he visits often with his family.

Michal has a partner and three-year-old as well as an older daughter, who lives with her mother and has completed a degree in Biomedical Science at Munster Technological University (MTU) and is starting a placement at Cork University Hospital (CUH) in September.

Chatting about Cork’s benefits, Michal was full of praise for the Rebel County.

“It is great craic here, the climate is mild, you are never too far from the beach, hills or a good trail. Ballincollig especially, with the Regional Park and the River Lee, it’s just lovely. It has proximity and good communication with the city, airport, and the Port of Cork — it is a fantastic place to live.”

A safe environment 

Michal said the fact that Cork is a safe environment to raise a family is a plus for him.

“It is generally a safe place to live, raise kids, go out for grub and a pint, or meeting with friends and listen to live music.”

The Cork County Council engineer also said that he feels an affinity with the Irish due to our shared struggles for national independence.

“Cork has a great history of fighting for freedom, very similar to Polish struggles from the not-so-distant past.”

Michal said his favourite thing to do in Cork is exploring.

“I am curious by nature and while not having been born here, nor studied here, both city and county have many locations and attractions I have yet to visit and see.

“In the past, I used to take loads of photographs to capture everyday life.”

On one occasion in 2009, Michal drove to a beach between Courtmacsherry and Kilbrittain just to take photos of a 65-foot long whale that got stranded there.

“I was working in the office and I heard about the whale. I just got my camera and hit the road. I was very unprepared. I had to trek through marshy land to get to it. I had no wellies, my shoes were destroyed, but it was worth it. The whale was huge. It was dead by the time I got to it.”

The many accents of Cork 

Describing his experiences with Cork people, Michal said they were, for the most part, very positive.

“People here are really nice, relaxed and have a great sense of humour. It never ceases to amaze me how often I come across people with the same surname not related whatsoever to one another despite that theory about six degrees of separation. Although, there is always someone who knows someone … so when you talk to somebody you will find some common network sooner rather than later.

“People from Cork are very proud of their county, they are rebellious and you can see that all over — like that poster created by Jason O’Gorman with a map showing what is Cork and what is not or more recently with images posted on social media with Skibbereen or Cork instead of Ireland on the Tokyo Olympics Medal Table.

“Another thing is the accents … have mercy but within a single county there are so many.”

While Michal enjoys his life in Cork, he does miss home from time to time and worries about his parents and siblings that he left behind.

“My closest family and my work is here so my life revolves around Cork and since I made the decision to relocate here, I am happy where I am. Naturally, I have concerns about my parents who may need some assistance in the future. I do miss my little sister and her kids, my cousins. I used to spend the summers with them at our grandparents.”

Michal said it is not straightforward getting home to visit and there are complications associated with being split across Europe, but he said it comes with the territory.

“It is what it is. I decided to come over, I knew what I was signing up for.”