Gaeilge
We were delighted to welcome the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland, Mr Ryszard Sarkowicz to our Letterkenny school Errigal College Letterkenny last Friday to meet with our Chief Executive Anne McHugh. The meeting was coordinated by Errigal College teacher, Robert Fabisiak, and was chaired by the Principal, Charlie Cannon. The Ambassador, Mr Ryszard Sarkowicz, was accompanied by his wife Anna and by three representatives of the Polish Community in Letterkenny. Also in attendance was Cllr Jimmy Kavanagh, who was wearing two hats as a member of Errigal College’s Board of Management and it was also his first official undertaking as Letterkenny’s new Mayor, Errigal College Deputy Principal Ciaran Rodgers and English as an Additional Language (EAL) teachers Hugo Dorrian and Robert Fabisiak.
The Ambassador heard about Errigal College’s multinational student body and how successfully they integrate. He also heard about the school’s Polish students and how well they have done in the Leaving Certificate before going on to further education. Our Chief Executive Anne McHugh helped set up the Polish Sunday school in Errigal College in 2008; she outlined the Irish education system for the Ambassador and he outlined the Polish system. Ambassador Sarkowicz hopes Polish will be introduced as a Junior Certificate subject in the near future. He presented a new DVD to Errigal College’s History department; the DVD is a documentary about a Polish man, Sir Paul Edmund Strzelecki, whose innovative relief scheme during the Famine saved over 200,000 Irish children from dying of starvation. His deeds have largely been forgotten and Ambassador Sarkowicz hopes that the new DVD will bring his very important work to the attention of Irish history students.