A Polish father of five who lived in rented accommodation in Enniskillen and was employed with Balcas died in an early morning road traffic accident near Newtownbutler on Sunday last. He was on is own at the time and no other vehicle was involved.
A Police spokeswoman said the incident happened on the Wattlebridge Road shortly after 3am when his car collided with a tree.
Stanislaw Ilnicki (47) was on is way to Dublin Airport to catch the 6am flight to his native Poland for a week's break. However, it has since transpired that he had driven to the airport for the previous morning's flight, but had arrived too late and missed his plane.
News of his death evoked genuine shock and sadness, among the Polish community in Fermanagh, among his colleagues at Balcas, where he was a highly regarded employee, and among is neighbours in Lower Celtic Park in Enniskillen.
In fact, his next door neighbours, Ann and Denis McGuckian knew nothing about the tragedy until the 'Herald' called at their home yesterday morning with a Polish interpreter. By then, Barbara Ilnicka, the deceased's widow and her family had moved to temporary accommodation in Riverside.
They included his daughters, Ewelina, who is employed locally by Maybin, the office cleaning firm, Natalia and Malgorzata who is a pupil at Holy trinity Primary School in the town and his sons, Bartlomiez, who is employed at Balcas where he is known as Bartek, and four-year old Kalper.
A weeping Ann McGuckian and her shocked husband, Denis recalled their next-door involvement with their new neighbours since Stanislaw came to Enniskillen on his own two years ago. His wife and the rest of his family followed in September last year.
It quickly became clear that the McGuckians were exceptional neighbours: "We spoke to them from day one and if they were wanting anything, or anything done like filling in forms, we were only too happy to oblige".
It seems that Stanislaw, who had reasonable English, did the talking and that his wife spoke hardly any English. But, it made no difference to their neighbours.
"They were a lovely, lovely family", Anne said. "I work in 'Saltshaker' in Forthill Street, and a lot of Polish people went there for the food suited them and, in that way, I got to know the families. He had told me he was going to Poland for one week. On Saturday morning, he said to me: 'I am back. I missed the plane', but he wasn't annoyed or anything. He was laughing about it. He said there would be another one on Sunday".
Her husband, Denis described Stanislaw as, 'a very nice man': "You could not get any better. He had a car with him when he came here which he would bring round the back to hoover and wash, and if he needed anything, he would get it.
"He was a very hard worker. He would be away to Balcas at 6 o'clock in the evening and you wouldn't see him till 6 o'clock the next morning. But, he liked the work and he liked being here and that is why he brought his wife and family over".
When the Mc Guckians saw Barbara and her children getting into a 4 x 4 on Monday of this week (they were being driven by their landlord to another address), little did they realise that Mrs Ilnicki was so traumatised she simply wanted to get away from number 27.
The family members will be flying out to Poland today (Wednesday) with the remains.
Among those who visited the family to offer their condolences was Gerry McDermott, the Personnel manager at Balcas. He told the 'Herald' that the deceased had taken up employment in March of last year, and his son last September.
"He was an exemplary employee. He helped us out with translating. He was a very good English speaker and that came in very useful for his fellow Polish nationals. The whole workforce are very saddened at this tragic accident. I was with the family today and let them know that the thoughts and prayers of the entire workforce are with the family members at this tragic time".
Meanwhile, the Police in Fermanagh are appealing for witnesses to the accident to come forward.
A spokeswoman said it was understood the car was travelling in the direction of Cavan at the time. "We would appeal for any witnesses to the collision, or anyone who came upon the crash to contact them on 0845 600 8000. We would also like to remind drivers to exercise caution on the roads in order to prevent any further tragedies".
