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Pat O’Sullivan Honoured by Polish Ambassador with Bene Merito Award

Pat O’Sullivan, Honorary Consul of the Republic of Poland in Limerick (centre) being honoured by Ryszard Sarkowicz, Polish Ambassador (left) and Cllr Noel Gleeson, Deputy Mayor of the City and County of Limerick (right) with the Bene Merito Award. Picture: Jordan MacCormaic/ilovelimerick.

Pat O’Sullivan Honoured by Polish Ambassador with Bene Merito Award

Pat O'SullivanRyszard Sarkowicz, Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to Ireland awarded Pat O’Sullivan, Honorary Consul of the Republic of Poland in Limerick with the Bene Merito distinction as recognition for all of his efforts to strengthen diplomatic relations between the Polish and Irish.

The award ceremony was combined with the historical exhibition ‘Friends in Times of Turmoil’ which is about the life and career of Consul-General Dobrzynski.

The exhibition reveals how the Polish nobleman initiated diplomatic relations and long-lasting friendship between the young states of Ireland and Poland in the 20th century.


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The exhibition also reveals how through the innocent gesture of inviting Douglas Hyde to a soccer match between Ireland and Poland in 1938, he was responsible for getting Hyde removed from his role as GAA president, as it was forbidden to go see foreign games.

Speaking on being awarded the Bene Merito distinction, Pat O’Sullivan said: “When I heard I was receiving this award, it was a huge surprise to me and my family. The fact that people have seen my efforts throughout my career and decided to give me an award for those efforts is really superb.”

He continued: “I’ve been working with the Polish community ever since they first came here, I was appointed as Honorary Consul in 2010. The work we do is to support industry and trade between Limerick and Poland and we have been very successful in that.”

Polish Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to Ireland, Ryszard Sarkowicz had to say: “I am extremely proud to have the opportunity to present Patrick O’Sullivan with this award because it symbolises the cooperation between the Polish and Irish.”

Finally, speaking about the ‘Friends in Times of Turmoil’ exhibition, Honorary Consul O’ Sullivan said: “It’s an extraordinary exhibition that shows the history of diplomatic relations between Ireland and Poland.

The exhibition forms part of the PolskaEire Festival 2017 – a nationwide, annual festival celebrating Irish-Polish friendship. See www.polskaeirefestival.org.

This is a touring exhibition and it will be presented in Limerick between May 18 – June 6 in The Glazed Street, Limerick City & County Council, Civic Buildings, Merchants Quay. The exhibition is in English and is admission free.

To view more about the ‘Friends in Times of Turmoil’ exhibition click here

To read more Polish stories from I Love Limerick click here

Richard is a presenter, producer, songwriter and actor. He was named the Limerick Person of the Year (2011) and won an online award at the Metro Éireann Media and Multicultural Awards (2011) for promoting multi-culturalism online. Richard says that the ilovelimerick.com concept is very much a community driven project that aims to document life in Limerick. So, that in 20 years time people can look back and remember the events that were making the headlines.