Polish couple say ‘so long’ after 27 years

ECONOMISTS might be predicting the departure of Eastern European emigrants from Ireland but almost none of those who do go will have spent as long here as Richard and Teresa Krawczyk, who are set to leave for their native Poland on Monday.

The couple have been in Shannon for almost 30 years, where they have been immersed in the local community and very involved in the local parish.
An auctioneer’s ‘Sold’ sign hangs outside their house at Dún an Óir and they were almost ready to go, when they spoke to The Clare Champion on Wednesday.
While he has a great fondness for this country, Richard says that Poland is where he feels he really belongs.
“I like Ireland, I like Irish people, I love it but it’s not my home. When you go abroad and you’re young you have lots of energy and power but when you’re a bit older, you start thinking differently. However long you are in a different country you’re an immigrant. Ireland is my second home but it’s not my home.”
For Teresa, the departure will be hard, as she loved her time in Shannon. “I feel sad, I know everybody in Shannon. I love Ireland and I’ve learned so much from the people here. They’re so calm and relaxed. I’m glad God sent me to Ireland. I will keep in touch and I’ll be coming back every so often, it’s only two and a half hours of a flight.”
At the time they left Poland, it was still behind the Iron Curtain and while there was work available there, shortages of goods were very common and they faced a wait of up to 20 years for their own home.
The difficulties around housing were the biggest problem, Teresa says.
“Looking back we would never have left if we had a house, it wasn’t easy going to England and then to Ireland, knowing nobody and not having the language.”
Both say they never encountered xenophobia in Ireland and in fact, Teresa felt they got a great welcome after arriving in Shannon in 1983. “People were wonderful. I remember coming to Shannon. We got our house and people were calling for tea. The Pope had been elected a few years earlier and we were very welcome,” she said.
In a sense it was sink or swim for the young Poles. After leaving Poland, it took them 13 years to go back and it was a lot harder to stay in touch at that time. “There was no telephone, to get a connection you’d have to wait 10 hours! We sent one letter a month home,” according to Richard.
Both of them got jobs in Shannon and Teresa said that dealing with the public hastened her local integration. “I worked in Quinnsworth for two years and it was the best place for me. At the checkout, you met lots of Shannon people and they got to know us. If I had been in a factory, I wouldn’t have met anyone. Then I got a job in Maidenform and I was there almost 24 years. I finished last Friday.”
She’s still getting used to the idea of being finished up work and she’s expecting a major transition once she gets back to Poland next week. “I have to blend in with the Polish people again now, it’s a different country to when we went. We will have to change again.”
While Richard is very positive about the move, he also knows that it will be a challenge. “There are huge steps for leaving home and it’s even bigger going home again,” he said.
After the onset of mass immigration to Ireland, the couple were very involved in the new Polish community and helped organise Polish masses in Limerick and Clare.
Richard feels that many of the recent arrivals might make their way home over the next few years, and he feels that his home country is on the up. “When I tell Irish people about it, I say it’s like the country was in chains for 40 years with the Communists. Then suddenly, someone cuts the chains and for a while, you don’t know what to do with the freedom. Now, step by step, it’s improving. Especially now that the European Championships are coming in 2012, so they’re building motorways, terminals, hotels. It’s improving, getting much, much better,” he concluded.