Polish Independence Day 2020 to be marked in Newtownabbey

Ballyclare Town Hall will be among the buildings lit up red.

A spokesperson for the local authority said: “While other parts of the world celebrate November 11 as Remembrance Day, Armistice Day and Veterans Day, for Poles the end of the Great War is perhaps even more significant as it saw the restoration of Poland’s sovereignty as the Second Polish Republic in 1918 from the German, Austrian and Russian Empires.”

Mayor of Antrim and Newtownabbey, Cllr Jim Montgomery said: “Northern Ireland and Poland have enjoyed a great relationship dating back to the 1940s and today we have over 30,000 Poles living in Northern Ireland.

“More recently I had the pleasure of experiencing this relationship when the council commissioned ‘For Our Freedom and Yours’ exhibition, the story of the 1st Polish Armoured Division at The Old Courthouse Antrim and Ballyclare Town Hall.

“The council are also twinned with Rybnik, a city in south-west Poland. It is fitting that the council join in the commemorations for Polish Independence Day by lighting up its civic buildings red.”

The Polish Consul General of the Republic of Poland in Northern Ireland, Pawel Majewski, added: “I am pleased that Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council will be lighting up its three civic buildings red to commemorate the Polish Independence Day on November 11.

“Members of the Polish community have become an integral part of local society and it is very uplifting to know that the council has recognised this by marking one of the most important days in the Polish calendar.

“This gesture will be well received and will resonate with members of the community across Northern Ireland and beyond and I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the council.”

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