HER FAMILY’S fight against communism and the Nazis inspired a Limerick-based Polish woman to join Fianna Fáil, she has stated.
Kraków-born Anna Banko is a Fianna Fáil candidate running in the Limerick City South local electoral area, where she has lived for over four years.
Explaining her decision to opt for the main governing party – known historically as the Soliders of Destiny – she commented: “I was looking at the various political parties here and Fianna Fáil seemed to be the party that reflected my beliefs and that had the right tradition.
“My father was involved in Lech WaÅ‚Ä™sa’s Solidarity movement and my grandfather fought with the partisans against the Nazis in World War II, so you could say my family has always been politically active and interested.”
She continued: “Having become involved with Fianna Fáil a lot of people locally and in the party started to encourage me to run for the local elections. So I decided to put my name forward and thankfully I’ve now been selected to run as a candidate for Fianna Fáil.”
“I think if I’m elected I can offer a lot to the people of the area. I want to help the community, improve the facilities and amenities on offer to the people of Limerick City South. I’m not just here to help the Polish people. I want to help everybody – Irish, Polish, Lithuanians, Nigerians and everyone who is living in the area. Hopefully I’ll be in a better position to do that come June, as a councillor for the people of the area.”
In Limerick, Banko is the owner and manager of a city centre nail salon which has been running for over a year and employs four people. She decided to open her own business having worked in a local beauty salon for three years.
“Things are going very well since we opened and I hope in a couple of years to extend the business... although obviously that will depend on the economy.” In Poland, she worked in beauty salons while pursuing a musical career, playing the violin and piano.
Banko says she made the decision to move to Ireland because of the opportunities presented by EU enlargement in 2004.
“I wanted to move somewhere to learn a language and improve my skills, ” she said. “It was at the same time that the EU enlargement was coming into place so that was opening up a lot of opportunities and making it easier for Polish people to travel around Europe.
“I suppose a lot of different countries were an option at that time but I started looking to see what jobs were available and there were some interesting opportunities in Ireland. I read up on Ireland and Limerick and I thought it would be an interesting place to live and it seemed like a nice place to make a home in.”
She soon found herself drawn towards politics. “I’ve always had an interest in helping people and improving things for my neighbours and the community. Usually that just involves simple things like helping some of the other Polish people in the area who may still be learning English to fill out forms in the bank or pick out the right product in a supermarket.
“I was also looking to improve the parking in the area or have the rubbish collection points better organised – that type of thing. These are only small issues but they can make a big difference.”
If elected, Banko will be the first person born outside of Ireland or the UK to become a member of Limerick City Council.
