Poland mourns air-crash victims

Madam, – I am an Irishman currently in Poland. I arrived last Thursday to visit some of the many friends I had made while living here for 18 months from January 2008 until July last year. When the news of the plane crash, which claimed the lives of so many of Poland’s leading politicians, came through on the radio, I was on a bus heading to Nowy Sacz, a small city in the south of the country. From my time spent in this amazing country, I can see and feel the immense sense of loss that the Polish people are feeling.

On Saturday, I could see the shock in the faces of people in the city. On Sunday, it felt as if the country was numbed.

The disbelief that this could happen was evident everywhere. That this disaster should happen on the day that the country was to commemorate those Poles massacred in Katyn during the second World War, makes it even more poignant. The name Katyn continues to haunt Poland.

Having lived and worked with Polish people in Ireland and in Poland, I know that while this is a setback the Polish people have a strong heart, and will bounce back strongly from this event. I would like to offer my deepest condolences to those Poles here and abroad. – Yours, etc,

GREG MAITLAND,

St Ives Gardens, Belfast.

Madam, – While the Polish state rightly mourns the death of President Lech Kaczynski with due deference to the protocols and traditions associated with the death of a head of state, I’m a little surprised that some politicians have been so gushing in their comments.

He was a hard-nosed extreme right wing conservative, with a questionable human rights record and was an outspoken homophobe. While being hosted as a guest of this nation in 2007, he said giving homosexuals equal rights would threaten the existence of the human race. He also banned gay rights protests in Poland. Give him whatever respect his office deserves, but don’t make him out to be something he wasn’t. – Yours, etc,

DAVID WILKINS,

Putland Villas,

Vevay Road,

Bray,

Co Wicklow.

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