POLES IN IRELAND:A SILENCE born of grief and shock gripped the several hundred mourners crammed into St Audoen's Church in Dublin yesterday at the start of a Mass to mark the deaths of Polish president Lech Kaczynski and scores of other dignitaries in the weekend air crash.
Some mourners wore black ribbons, others shed tears as they assembled at the Polish chaplaincy in Ireland to share the pain felt from their country’s worst tragedy since the second World War. As the bell rang to announce the Mass, Dublin’s Polish community parted to allow their chaplain, Fr Jaroslaw Maszkiewicz, to pass to the altar.
As he walked they began whispering the solemn hymn Mary, Queen of Poland,seeking comfort in the church and each other. "This is a very sad moment in the history of our country. People are treating the loss as a personal tragedy," said Fr Maszkiewicz, in a homily broadcast outside the church to those who couldn't squeeze inside. He thanked President Mary McAleese, who gave a reading during the Mass, Pat Carey, Minister for Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs, and the Irish-Polish Society for attending.
“I feel the Irish community is standing with us, and this is reflected by the presence of your President at the Mass,” he said.
Sean Lyons, a co-founder of the Irish-Polish community, said it was important that many ordinary Irish people turned up.
“There are so many links now in a united EU – many people are married to Poles. I married 40 years ago to a Polish lady, and there are so many young Polish people living in Ireland,” said Mr Lyons.
When the Mass finished, many of the mourners stayed on to chat with their friends and colleagues about the tragedy.
Agnieszka Hajduga, who has been living in Ireland for about three years, was told about the tragedy in a phone call yesterday.
“I couldn’t believe it. I rang my family back in Poland, who are all really upset. In a way, I think it’s worse for Polish people living here because we are far away from our own country. We feel we are not there to share the pain,” she said.
“It was important to be here at the Mass today,” she added.
Wojciech Kasnicki, who is currently unemployed but previously worked as a printer, said there was deep sadness among the Polish community at the death of the president.
“He was a controversial president. But in an event like this, politics don’t matter. There were so many important people on the plane,” he said.
Adam Brozynski, who works as a translator, said Mr Kaczynski was a charismatic but divisive figure in Poland.
“He wasn’t very popular with young people because he was always talking about history and had a very strong position on foreign policy, particularly Russia,” he said.
Mr Brozynski said the crash was even more shocking because it happened in Russia on the way to mark the 70th anniversary of the massacre of Polish officers by Soviet forces near Smolensk.
“There will be rumours about what happened. But I don’t think these are justified,” he said.
Polish ambassador to Ireland Dr Tadeusz Szumowski dismissed any talk of a conspiracy, and urged people to pull together.
“We have to be together in this tragic time to talk together, think together and pray together. The nation must go on and survive. We will keep in our memories of course this tragic event, and never forget what has happened in this enormously tragic place,” he said.