There’s no doubt that Her Excellency Anna Sochanska takes great pride in her new role as the Polish Ambassador in Ireland.
It’s a challenging role, but one which she has taken on with great gusto, and already is firmly bedded in, despite being just a few months in the position.
Anna has a keen interest in foreign affairs, something which has been high in her thoughts since her early twenties.
Moreover, Anna and her family grew up during a time of Communism in Poland. However, she is keen to accentuate the positives from it.
“We remembered Poland’s rich history and what the country was like before the Second World War,” she told Dublin Gazette.
“Polish people never surrendered, although they lived through a very horrific period of the German, and thereafter the Soviet occupation.’’
“Both of those regimes wanted to crush Poland and its people, but they have failed to do so as Polish people are very resilient.’’
Furthermore, as Anna says ‘’those characteristics gave us power and motivation. It is true that Polish people love their country and are very proud of it and its achievements.’’
“At the moment Poland is flourishing in terms of employment, economy and social policies and those are the positive aspects we should focus on.’’
The Polish Ambassador expresses her concern about how the full potential of Poland and Ireland is being wasted, as both countries are focused on many issues of common interests, but that perhaps they have yet to ‘come together’ on a lot of these topics.
“It is time to change the stereotype of Polish people as they are not only employed as bakers or plumbers but work for enormous companies such as Facebook, Google etc,” she said.
“There are different profiles of Polish people living and working in Ireland.”
Anna would like to send Irish people to Poland in order for them to experience the full beauty of her native country.
“Poland is a rich country in terms of nature as it consists of many mountains, seas and lakes and it would be important for Irish people to see all that Poland has to offer.’’ Nevertheless, the language barrier in Poland no longer exists, which makes things easier for both Irish and Polish people alike.’’
