‘I like how Irish people are proud of being Irish’

When Szymon Leszek visited Ireland for the first time during the summer of 2005 he felt excited. His family had recently moved to Cork and Leszek had come to check it out before returning to Poland to complete his final year of secondary school.

“My Dad owned a small grocery shop but the bigger supermarkets were taking over so they were forced to close down. My father knew a guy already in Ireland who said he should come for a few months and make some money. There was work on building sites but my dad didn’t have a background in that area. But he chanced it, and he’s still here.”

We found out Malwina was pregnant. It was a big shock, it changed everything

Leszek still remembers his parents’ concern about leaving their son in Poland with his grandparents so he could finish school before moving. “It was not easy for my parents to leave me behind but my mum visited quite often. They were more worried about my sister because she was only 10 and didn’t have English. But luckily she managed very well, she didn’t have to stay back a year in school and made friends easily.”

After his short visit in 2005, Leszek started making plans with his then-girlfriend Malwina to come with him to Ireland. They arrived in Cork city the summer of 2006 and Leszek applied to study for a degree in psychology at University College Cork.

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“We wanted to make money during the summer holidays so I got a job in a plastics factory and she did cleaning jobs. And then we found out Malwina was pregnant. It was a big shock, it changed everything. I decided to postpone my education, I realised I couldn’t be full time in college and also work full time to support my family.”

Leszek continued working at the plastics factory and in 2007 – when he was 20 and Malwina was 19 – their daughter Rachel was born.

The young couple also had support from both Leszek’s parents, along with Malwina’s mum and dad who had also followed their daughter to Ireland. “Our parents were a great help. At the beginning it wasn’t the material aspects that were difficult, it was the mental aspects. We had to grow up so quickly, that was the biggest challenge.”

As the months went by, the couple realised they were spending very little time with people their own age. “We had to think like a family and they were still thinking like teenagers. They could go out whenever they wanted, travel whenever they wanted. But I wasn’t jealous because I’d think of my daughter and the love for her took over.”

In 2009 the couple got married and the following year their son Colin was born. In 2011 baby Seán arrived on the scene. Around this time, Leszek started a night course in mechanical engineering at Cork Institute of Technology while continuing to work full time at the factory.

“I’d been out of education for so long it was tough getting back into it. But it was a great relief to be learning again. And when I finished my course my wife started her studies to become a beautician and then set up her own business.”

In 2014, Leszek secured a job with a major tech company in Cork. He loved the work and made friends from across the globe in his new office. However, after nearly four years with the company, and just months after securing a mortgage on a new home, he was made redundant when the project he was working on was discontinued.

Leszek briefly found work with a brewing company but then decided to become a truck driver to make ends meet at home. “It was not an easy time. We’d bought that house and had to pay the mortgage. I was also going through some difficult personal matters but needed to provide for my family.”

I'm definitely more humble now, I can see the world from a different perspective

Leszek had to leave home between 3am and 4am each morning and work until mid-afternoon when he could spend some time with the kids. He didn’t mind the driving but felt disheartened that all the years he’d spent building a career had been for nothing. “I don’t want to make it sound bad but I’d been a team leader in my other job, I had responsibilities. And now I was just driving a truck, getting my dockets, making my deliveries.”

Leszek continued this work through the early months of the pandemic, driving the deserted Irish roads during peak lockdown. He discovered there was very little infrastructure for drivers making long journeys, such as stop off points where people can shower. Leszek eventually found work as a driver with a garden centre which offered more sociable hours and was quickly promoted to a manager role. However, he says the time he spent driving across Ireland taught him a huge amount about himself.

“I’m definitely more humble now, I can see the world from a different perspective. In my new job I was actually scheduling truck drivers and I understood what the job was like. I understand how it feels to drive a truck.”

A lover of mountain biking and other outdoor activities, Leszek has been struggling with long Covid symptoms since contracting the virus three months ago. However, he recently started volunteering with Together-Razem charity which supports members of Ireland's Polish and Romanian communities who are struggling with addictions.

“Not getting outside was really impacting my mental health but working with Together-Razem has helped me a lot. I’ve always been interested in psychology so when the opportunity came up I thought why not do something for someone else and learn along the way.”

I like how Irish people are proud of being Irish and this country is well recognised around the world

Leszek has recently moved into a new role as a manufacturing operations manager at a Cork food company. Meanwhile, he wife is trying to rebuild her business which struggled hugely during Covid. “She’d worked so hard to build up her business but with lockdowns it was always the first to close and the last to re-open.”

While his children also struggled during Covid lockdowns, he’s optimistic about their future in Ireland. Bilingual from birth, the children speak Polish with their parents and grandparents but English with one another. His daughter likes reading Polish books and his son is fascinated by Poland’s history.

“To be honest I feel good about my kids growing up here. I like how Irish people are proud of being Irish and this country is well recognised around the world.” Leszek has now spent nearly as long living in Ireland as he did in Poland. He supports the Irish soccer team and has lots of close Irish friends. However, he will always identify as Polish. “Poland is where I grew up, but Ireland is my second motherland.”

[ newtotheparish@irishtimes.com ]