The main point of the visit of the Head of the Foreign Service Arkady Rzegocki to Dublin was meeting Joe Hackett, the Secretary General of the Department of Foreign Affairs of Ireland, to discuss the organization and functioning of the foreign service of Ireland, as well as to discuss potential areas of cooperation in the field of training diplomatic personnel. During the meeting, the Secretary General of the Department of Foreign Affairs of Ireland thanked Poland for the support provided to Ireland in connection with Brexit and expressed his appreciation to Poland for the assistance provided to Ukraine and Ukrainians seeking refuge in Poland after the Russian invasion on Ukraine. The Head of the Foreign Service also expressed his gratitude for Ireland's support in helping Ukrainians and expressed his hope that Ireland will continue to support Ukraine, fighting against Russian aggression.

The Head of the Foreign Service also met with Ivailo Kalfin, Director of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound), to discuss the socio-economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and measures to mitigate its effects in the sphere of social policy and employment in the EU. During the meeting at the headquarters of Eurofound, the Head of the Foreign Service expressed his interest in increasing the representation of Polish citizens in European institutions, including the Eurofund, emphasizing that Polish experts can add value to the work of the organization as well as other EU entities.

During his visit to Dublin, the Head of the Foreign Service also met with representatives of the Glencree Center for Reconciliation and Peace, an independent charity non-governmental organization specializing in dialogue, mediation, negotiation and peace education. The Head of the Foreign Service also visited the Polish House in Dublin, the only Polish social and cultural institution in Ireland with the status of a charitable public benefit institution, which since 1987 has been a meeting place for Poles living in Ireland and Irish friends who want to get to know Polish culture. The Polish House is the seat of the three oldest, still active, Polish organizations in Ireland, i.e. the Irish Polish Society (IPS), the Polish Social and Cultural Center (POSK) and the Polish Center.

During his visit to Dublin, the Head of the Foreign Service, Arkady Rzegocki, took part in the reception on the occasion of the Third of May Polish National Day, hosted by the Polish Ambassador to Ireland, Ms Anna Sochańska, for the diplomatic corps and representatives of the Irish world of culture, science, administration and business. During the reception, the Head of the Foreign Service took part in the ceremony of awarding the Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland to the long-time Honorary Consul of the Republic of Poland in Limerick, Mr. Patrick O'Sullivan. The Head of the Foreign Service also had the opportunity to listen to the Honorary Consul's proposal regarding the further development of Polish-Irish contacts in the economic and social sphere. During the reception, the Medals of the Polish Army were also awarded to Irish soldiers for special merits in the field of cooperation within multinational units, which include units of the Polish Army.

At Mount Jerome Cemetery in Dublin, the Head of the Foreign Service laid a wreath on the grave of the late Jan Łukasiewicz, a philosopher, mathematician and logician born in Lviv, minister of education in the office of Ignacy Paderewski and the rector of the University of Warsaw, who was the author of three-valued logic, the first non-classical logical calculus on the basis of which modal logic, probabilistic logic and fuzzy logic were created. During the war, he lectured at the secret University, and after 1945 he was in exile. He lectured in Belfast, Dublin and Manchester. He died in Dublin on February 13, 1956.

 

Łukasz Jasina
MFA Press Spokesperson

Photo: Rafał Kostrzewa, Agata Supińska