AMONG those who attended the Eventing Ireland Northern Region two-phase event at Tullylish on Saturday were Mags Oleszek and Lukasz Szadowiak who are returning home to Poland on August 14th following many years in Ireland.

While event organisers in the region would know Lukasz from all the help he provided through painting, strimming, car parking and anything else that needed doing, Mags, who also undertook those tasks, was much more involved with horses which was what brought her to Ireland 18 years ago.

She first worked in a racing yard in north Co Dublin, moving to Belfast for a short stint as a kitchen porter before being lured back into racing, more specifically, point-to-pointing.

Taking time out to have daughter Olivia, who is now 11, Mags then turned to the sport horse world and has been a yard manager at the Megahey family’s Glenpatrick stables for the past nine years.

“I would very much like to thank all those I’ve become friends with in Ireland and those I’ve worked for as I’ve learned a lot over the years,” said Mags who came to this country with a diploma in horse breeding. She never rode competitively at home but got to do so out of Glenpatrick and was absolutely delighted to win an EI90 one day at Tullylish on Britt Megahey’s Lowhill Nice Surprise.

While she doesn’t know as yet which she is going to do in southern Poland close to the Czech border, Mags decided it was an opportune time to return home as Olivia, who is already over in that country staying with her grandparents, will now be moving into secondary school.