The Mayor of Drogheda, Councillor Michelle Hall welcomed Mayor Michal Kontraktowicz, and his wife Martha, from Stawiguda Commune in Poland to Drogheda recently.
Mayor Hall brought her guests on a walking tour of Drogheda after lunch in Scholars Townhouse. In the tourist office at The Tholsel, Phil Conyngham presented Mayor Kontraktowicz with a framed print of Drogheda.
The two Mayors discussed the similarities and differences of local government in Ireland and Poland. Michal is a directly elected mayor of a rural region with a population of 12,000 compared to Drogheda Borough District which covers a rural and urban area of approx. 50,000 people.
Michal’s role as Mayor is similar to a Chief Executive function with decision making over budgets and actions. Michal was very surprised to hear that the Mayor of Drogheda had no office or admin support and that Cllr Hall also worked as a teacher!
In a detailed and beautifully designed set of booklets on the region, it states that Stawiguda Commune has “beautiful forests, amazingly clear lakes and overwhelming richness of the natural world”.
Stawiguda Commune is only 100kms from the Russian border so this was an ongoing concern for the Polish Mayor and he thought he would have to send his family to Drogheda for safety at the beginning of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine.
The Mayors discussed the importance of forging relationships between Ireland and Poland, and the possibility of local schools getting in touch with each other. Mayor Kontraktowicz was on holidays with his family, visiting his sister, who has been living in Drogheda for the last 16 years.
“It was lovely to be able to host another Mayor from an EU country such as Poland which has high number of its population residing in Drogheda,” Mayor Hall said.
“Mayor Kontraktowicz and his wife were delighted to spend so much time walking and talking around Drogheda. They loved all the flower displays around the town centre and went out to visit Monasterboice High Crosses on my recommendation, having never heard of them before.
“Tourism is high on my agenda as Mayor this year. We have an incredible amount to offer international tourists and I hope Mayor Kontraktowicz will spread the word of how fabulous Drogheda is as a tourist destination. One day, I hope to visit his region in Poland in our campervan.”
