Her Excellency Emer O’Connell, Ambassador of Ireland to Poland, together with the Second Secretary at the Embassy, Dominic Berkeley, visited the Faculty of English on Friday 22nd November and had meetings with the staff of the Celtic Centre, and the Dean and Vice-rector. Proposed changes to the Celtic programme curriculum were discussed with Dr Karolina Rosiak, Prof. Liliana Sikorska and Prof. Michael Hornsby, and discussions were held on how Higher Education reforms in Poland have been managed by the School of Languages and Literatures with the Dean, Prof. Joanna Pawelczyk and the Vice-rector, Prof. Katarzyna Dziubalska-Kołaczyk.
The Centre for Celtic Studies was very pleased to receive a number of publications in Irish and on Ireland gifted by the Embassy. Copies of all three editions of Studia Celtica Posnaniensia were also presented to the Ambassador and the Second Secretary. The Ambassasor then gave a talk on Irish-Polish relations, especially the close connections of Ireland with the Wielkopolska region of Poland, to a packed audience from across the Faculty and beyond. We look forward to welcoming the Ambassador back to Poznan next March as part of the Seachtain na Gaeilge (Irish-language Week) activities that will be organized by the Celtic Centre.