Slideshow: Thank You Ireland - a Polish love letter to our island

As part of the celebrations last year for the tenth anniversary of Poland joining the EU, the Polish-Irish cultural group Forum Polonia held a competition for Irish and polish photographers to show what living in Ireland meant to them.

The idea behind the ‘Thank You Ireland’ competition was not only to celebrate Poland’s membership but also to acknowledge Ireland’s special relationship with Poland, in particular our welcome for the many Polish citizens who have made Ireland their home. They wanted to celebrate the strong new cultural ties between our two countries and for the photographers to express visually their thanks for what they found in Ireland.

The overall winner was Monika Janus, with the second prize going to Anna Gajdemska. All of the finalists’ photographs will on display at EU House, 18 Dawson street, Dublin 2, until  Friday 13th March.

The first ever Irish/Polish cultural festival also starts this month.  PolskaEire kicks off on March 21^st and will run until the 29th.  The full exhibition will be on view in Liberty Hall as part of a SIPTU event for the festival on Thursday 26th March.