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Seanad Éireann debate -
Thursday, 22 Apr 2010

Vol. 202 No. 3

Death of President of Poland: Expressions of Sympathy.

As Leader of Seanad Éireann and on behalf of Senators on all sides of the House, I express sincere sympathy and condolences to the Polish Government and the people of Poland following the tragic air accident in Russia on 10 April which claimed the lives of the President of the Republic of Poland, His Excellency Lech Kaczynski; his wife, Maria, and 94 others in Russia. This tragic event was a source of great shock all around the world. Mr. Kaczynski made a major contribution to public life in Poland as President, as Minister for Justice and as a great Solidarity personality in the 1980s and 1990s. He was forthright in his views, a trait that stood him well in the many important political positions he held during the years. That his wife, Maria, perished in the same accident makes the tragedy all the more horrific for their family, especially their daughter, Marta.

Leading figures from the Polish Government, the parliament, the military, the church, the public service and civic society were also killed in the tragedy and our sympathy goes to their families. The tragedy is all the more poignant because of the circumstances in which it happened. The President and his travelling party were due to attend a ceremony to commemorate the terrible massacre of thousands of Polish soldiers in 1940. What was to have been an important symbolic moment of reconciliation became instead a tragic and horrible event. I again offer condolences to the Polish Government and people at this sad time. Our thoughts and prayers are with those who have been bereaved and, more generally, Polish people everywhere, including the many thousands who live among us in Ireland. Go ndéanfaidh Dia trócaire ar a anam.

It was a great tragedy for the Polish people to lose their President in such a sad manner. On behalf of Fine Gael, I extend our sympathy to the families and friends of the late President, Mr. Lech Kaczynski; his wife, Maria, and all of the officials, military leaders and dignitaries who were on board the flight on that fateful day. It is made more poignant by the fact that they were due to attend an event commemorating another great tragedy in Poland's history. Poland's history since that initial tragedy, where thousands of their best and brightest young army officers were murdered, has been tinged with tragedy. We should take from this episode the comments and genuine regret expressed by the Russian Federation Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and the President, Mr. Medvedev. This may be the beginning of a new era for the people of Poland. Poland is a committed member of the European Union and a new dawn of rapprochement with the Russian Federation would be good for both Europe and the Polish people.

Mr. Kaczynski was instrumental in this new era for Poland. He was one of the leading members of the Solidarity movement with Lech Walesa when the communist era was overthrown. He went on to work as a politician and became President of the new Poland. I hope his death and the death of all those other people has not been in vain and that Poland will continue to enjoy this new era. On behalf of Fine Gael, I extend my sympathies to the people of Poland living in Ireland and everywhere else in the world and in Poland. May Mr. Kaczynski, his wife Maria and the other officials rest in peace.

Like other Independent Members, I commiserate with the people of Poland and I associate myself with the sentiments of other Senators. As Senator Twomey said, it is important the great state of Poland enjoys harmonious relationships with its neighbours to the east and west. Out of the tragedy of the terrible plane crash has come a new dawn of glasnost and openness between the former Soviet Union and Polish people. This also takes in the German people and I am glad to say we can take some satisfaction from the fact that the great Irish civil servant, Sir Owen O’Malley, told the truth about this matter during the war. He was a great Mayoman and the people of Mayo can be a proud of him.

As Senator Twomey said, it is important there is stability in that part of the world. Poland is a member of the European Union and is a good, stabilising influence on what has always been an unstable area. Having a good relationship between Poland, Germany and the wider EU augurs well. We can take great hope from the openness of the new Russian Administration to the question of what happened at Katyn. This openness is not new to us in Ireland; it was critical in Northern Ireland and it is critical we have the truth. There is more goodness in admitting past mistakes than in almost any other act. One of the greatest acts of good authority is to apologise for what happened. That apology and expression of sorrow, according to my many Polish friends, by the Russian Government and its people has done more for Polish-Russian relations than almost anything else. We should all take note that saying sorry is a very moral and good thing to do.

On behalf of the Labour Party I extend my sympathy to the Polish people on the death of their President and the other 94 people killed in the Smolensk air crash this month. That so many people of importance to the development of the country died is sad, as is the fact they were going to a joint commemoration with the Russians to mark the anniversary of the Katyn disaster in 1940 when 22,000 Poles and other citizens were killed by the Soviet army. Anyone visiting Poland will be struck by the oppression Polish people have suffered over the past number of centuries from east and west. This is particularly true of the last century, in places such as Auschwitz where 6 million citizens of Poland, including gypsies, gay people and straight people were killed by the Nazi armies of Europe. We are struck by how the Polish people, through their determination, have come through this and built their country. That determination ensures the country continues to grow and deal with the current disaster. I pay particular tribute to those Polish citizens living in Ireland, who are away from home at the moment. It must be particularly sad for them. I express our deepest condolences to them.

I join with the Leader and my colleagues in expressing my sorrow and the sorrow of Green Party Members at the death of President Kaczynski, his wife and the 94 others who died at the plane crash in Smolensk on 10 April. Poland has lost its President and all nations grieve when they lose their president. Our thoughts are with the Polish people as they come to terms with this tragedy, one of many that have befallen that wonderful country in the past century and this century. Every county in Ireland knows Polish people in schools, sporting associations and workplaces. I employed a Polish woman for two years and we have got to know their work ethic, their industriousness, their wisdom borne of a suffering almost unparalleled in European history, and their commitment to their families. Ireland has benefited from knowing Polish people and from having people from Poland settle in our neighbourhoods and communities. Our sorrow is also with them.

The number of people who died was shocking and many were leaders, including 18 parliamentarians from the Polish political establishment. Of particular note is Ryszard Kaczorowski, the last President in exile of the Polish state. He handed over the insignia of presidential power of the second republic to Lech Walesa in 1990. A group memory has been eradicated by what happened and it is an event that will have reverberations within Polish society and therefore within the European Union for many years to come. One of the marvellous gifts of the expansion of the European Union has been that Poland is now a member. I remember that a visit to Poland broadened my sense of what Europe is, how accommodating it can be and how important it is to understand our history in a European context. That Poland survived a genocide attempt on its people and a cultural genocide in the summer after the Nazi invasion of 1939 struck me as demonstrating a remarkable resilience in the Polish people. I am sure they will move on from this, learn from it and mourn it. Our thoughts are with the people of Poland.

I am glad to add my words to the other speakers. There is no right or left today. There is no separation, no difference. We are together in our condolences to the families of those who have died. Those were the words of the speaker of the Lower House in Poland, Bronislaw Komorowski, in the wake of the terrible tragedy that killed President Lech Kaczynski and 94 others. It is right and fitting that we express our sympathy with the people of Poland because of the terrible loss they suffered. I watched coverage as it unfolded after the plane crash and I was particularly interested in President Kaczynski, what he represented and the evolving story of Polish politics. I had participated in a conference in Gdansk a number of months earlier. I had the good fortune to spend time with Paul McNamara, an Irish historian based in Poland who has written a book on Mr. Seán Lester and his role on behalf of the League of Nations in the free city of Gdansk or Danzig between the wars. I heard a story about the divisions that had emerged between the former Solidarity people, Lech Walesa and the Kaczynski brothers. It is often the case that people who have so much in common can have the bitterest of disputes. This happens often in families. When watching the RTE news, I was stressed by the manner in which Mr. Kaczynski's alleged conservatism was emphasised. It was suggested in the news report, prior to it rightly making the point that all Polish people were united in their grief, that Mr. Kaczynski had been a divisive figure in his country. I could not help wondering whether the same approach would have been taken had Prime Minister Zapatero of Spain been the unfortunate victim. He was a man who it could be said is just as divisive but on the left wing of politics. I was glad therefore that the narrative moved quickly to the unity of Poles in the wake of the disaster. It is worth noting the generous words from Derek Scally in The Irish Times, taking into account the spirit of de mortuis nil nisi bonum, nothing if not positive should be spoken of the dead. It is perhaps unfortunate that it took the death of Mr. Kaczynski for journalism to reveal its more generous and impartial side. It was said of Mr. Kaczynski that in person he was a warm and friendly man whose regular provocations seemed to be about demanding the same respect for his conservative views as was demanded of his liberal opponents for theirs. He was quoted as saying that it is about opposing a world where a Christmas tree is becoming suspicious and the most obscene gay demonstration is not. My point is neither to endorse nor critique his views but to point out that in a mature democracy served by a mature media, all people should be judged fairly on their views and not caricatured. It is perhaps unfortunate that it took Mr. Kaczynski’s death for elements of the Western media to move away from the language and politics of caricature.

To put the record straight, Mr. Kaczynski was first and foremost a patriot who, as everybody knows, starred with his brother in a film in 1962 entitled Two Who Stole the Moon. He had in some way come to exemplify Polishness and the resistant spirit of Polishness. He was a man who was not afraid to put himself out there and into the firing line to defend what he perceived as the interests of Poland and European values, in particular European values based on Europe’s Christian heritage. If it is true that he took a firm view on those issues, it is also true to say that he had never taken what could be described as an irrational view. We should cherish politicians who are willing to be controversial and, if necessary, to divide because they are the politicians who are telling one what one does not necessarily want to hear and are paying one the honour and courtesy of telling one what they actually think as distinct from what might attract majority support in particular times and places.

It is certainly the case that the response of Mr. Kaczynski and his party, Law and Justice, whether in the right or wrong in Polish politics, on the issue of collusion with Communists led in the past to a divide between those members of Solidarity who believed any past collusion should be named and shamed, which was very much the position of the Law and Justice Party, and those who believed that in some way there had to be continuity and that the past had to be taken on board and moved on with. That was often the position represented by elements within the Catholic Church in Poland.

What can we do but offer a word of sympathy to the many Polish people in Ireland who have improved the quality of our national life by their great contribution, culture and work ethic? I have the great good fortune to know many of them. We sympathise with them, regardless of their political perspective, in relation to the great tragedy which took the lives of their President, his wife and 94 other people, many of whom held prominent positions in Polish society. This is a loss from which Poland will recover but this will take time. Ar dheis Dé go raibh anamnacha na marbh go léir.

On my own behalf and on behalf of all Members, I wish to be associated with the expressions of sympathy paid to His Excellency, Lech Kaczynski, President of Poland, following the recent tragic air accident in Smolensk, Russia. I offer my condolences at this sad time to the large Polish community in Ireland, the Polish Government and its people.

Members rose.

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