City Hall to mark Polish Independence Day with free event this evening
IE STOCK GENERIC IMAGE 21/09/2022 council offices councillors lord mayor meetings headquarters.
Polish Independence Day will be marked at Cork City Hall today with a free event entitled “The Polish Day”.
The event has been organised by Cork charity Together-Razem, with the support of Cork City Council’s Social Inclusion Unit and The Embassy of Poland based in Dublin.
The special ceremony will begin just before 5pm with the Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Deirdre Forde, raising the Polish flag at City Hall.
This will be followed by a celebration of music, food and dance in the Millennium Hall.
Dressed in folk costumes, Polish children who attend Together-Razem’s Razem Academy afterschool will sing Polish songs.
Everyone attending will have the chance to sample some traditional Polish food.
The Lord Mayor, Cllr. Deirdre Forde, said she wished to acknowledge the contribution of Cork’s Polish community.
The CEO of Together-Razem, Voyteck Bialek, said that, in addition to celebrating Polish Independence Day, the event will also mark Poland’s close ties with Ukraine, and Cork’s Polish community’s close ties with Ukrainian refugees in Cork, and show solidarity and support for Ukraine’s fight to protect its independence.
🇵🇱🇮🇪Polish Independence Day to be celebrated at Cork City Hall today!🇵🇱🇮🇪
— Cork City Council (@corkcitycouncil) November 10, 2022
➡️We are delighted to be helping our friends @TogetherRazem mark Polish Independence Day with a flag raising event, and a celebration of music, food and dance!
ℹ️Learn more here: https://t.co/gv6eAGDidE pic.twitter.com/H5kWVMcsmU
“The Poles live and work here, their children were born in Ireland but at the same time they want to maintain their heritage, their mother tongue, culture and traditions,” said Mr Bialek.
“We also need to show solidarity with our Ukrainian brothers and sisters and to not forget that the war is there.”
Event co-ordinator Ewa Ikwanty said that City Hall will be illuminated in the red and white colours of the Polish flag for the event and on the following day.
Poland re-gained its independence on the 11 November 1918, after the First World War.
It is estimated that almost 25,000 Polish people live in Cork city and county, making them the largest minority group in Cork.
The Cork Polish community is a very vibrant and active one, with Polish clubs and groups, Polish schools, shops and small businesses spread out across the city and county, with Polish culture, language and traditions enhancing the vibrancy of Cork and helping to enrich the social and cultural fabric of Irish society.
Together-Razem, the main organiser of the event, provides support to the Polish and East-Central Europeans migrants since 2006, offering a wide range of services to help people better integrate with Irish society, while maintaining respect and memory of their own roots and traditions.
Since Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, Together-Razem has supported Ukrainian refugees in Cork by providing essential services in a dedicated hub, Together4Ukraine, in Blackpool.
Thursday evening’s event in City Hall is free and open to everyone.
For more information please contact Together-Razem on 021 4395588 or email info@together-razem.org.
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