In November, we visited Ireland, where we held a series of working meetings at two universities: Trinity College Dublin and the University of Limerick. It was our next visit to the country and an important step in further strengthening academic cooperation between Poland and Ireland.
During the meetings, we discussed our offer for the academic community, with particular attention given to supporting the teaching of the Polish language and culture. This area has been consistently developed for several years, and Irish universities remain very active and committed partners in the process.
Since NAWA’s first visit to Ireland four years ago, we have doubled the number of Polish language teaching positions at Trinity College Dublin. This is a tangible result of long term cooperation and clear evidence of the real demand for such forms of support. Interest in Polish language and culture courses continues to grow, creating space for further activities.
We see potential not only in strengthening existing partnerships, but also in gradually expanding the network of universities interested in hosting our lecturers. Discussions in this area are ongoing and show that cooperation in Polish language education has a stable foundation in Ireland.
Our visit to Ireland was also an opportunity to meet with the Polish community. We visited Polish schools in Kildare and Dublin, where we learned about the everyday challenges faced by teachers and the needs of their students. These conversations help us better understand the local context and the real importance of Polish language education abroad.
We presented the principles of the ANDERS NAWA programme and the Poland My First Choice programme to young people and students in Ireland.
We also took part in the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Polish school in Limerick. It was an important event for the local community and a good moment to summarise the achievements so far and discuss the future.
Further cooperation with Ireland remains an important and forward looking direction for us. We would like to thank the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Dublin and the Consulate of the Republic of Poland in Dublin for their support during the visit. We return with concrete conclusions and plans for the coming months.
