Last year a controversial law was introduced by the centre-right ruling majority in Italy, to govern the conditions under which assisted procreation may take place. The requirement for legislation governing this area was not in itself controversial. Most recognised that there existed a ‘far-west’ situation, where ethics and medical standards were dubious to say the […]
Years ago, sitting in a chaotic restaurant in Ho Chi Minh city (how’s that for showing off!), our Vietnamese hosts on learning that I was Irish beamed and gave me an international greeting – “Roy Keane – Irish – Yes”. In the days before Keane’s childish Saipan tantrum, this was a novel and welcome greeting. Better that you be recognised for the on-field achievements of Keane than for the explosive abilities of the IRA.
Aside from saving me that potential embarassment, it was a potent reminder that football, soccer, calcio, call it what you will, is a global sport/industry.
Watching the Italian serie A, one might wonder why? This year, as is the case most years, the championship rested between the two richest teams Juventus and AC Milan. The competition is plagued by dodgy refereeing decisions, scandals, and the suspicion that perhaps it’s more than just nimble feet and fantasia that count.
Last year was the 10th anniversary of the founding of Silvio Berlusconi’s political party Forza Italia.
The party was founded at a time when the established political order appeared to be crumbling, due to corruption charges left, right and centre (in every sense).
A report in today’s newspapers show that the wealth of Berlusconi’s family has tripled in the 11 years since he graciously entered politics to save the country [we’ve been reading his autobiography!]
When he entered politics his family’s wealth was calculated at 161.9million Euro. Now it’s an estimated 983.8million Euro.
April was a turbid time in Italy, with two focal points of leadership coming to an end. This column, when not taking a shifty break (as may have been noted by its absence for almost a fortnight), was focused primarily on the power changes going on in the Holy See. At the same time, though, […]
It would be unfair to suggest that this Monkey was entirely opposed to the election of Pope Benedict XVI. Al contrario thanks to some careful scrutiny of form, leading to a judicious bet on Ratzinger with Paddy Powers, the new Pope has earned me the princely sum of
Following violent clashes at the weekend at various matches including Lazio-Livorno, Palermo-Messina, and Perugia-Ternana (it’s not confined solely to the big Serie A matches), Interior minister Giuseppe Pisanu threatened to take serious action against both fans and clubs. Then, on Tuesday night there were the absurd and shocking scenes from the San Siro stadium as […]
Talking about the disruption caused to Rome due to the arrival of so many pilgrims to the eternal city, a typically sardonic local shrugged and said “Vabbe’, per fortuna succede ogni morte di papa” or “Well, luckily it happens only when a pope dies”. The term “ogni morte di papa” has passed into Italian aphorisms […]
Flying back to Bologna, after a week in Ireland, the day before Pope John Paul II’s funeral, I expected to be packed tight alongside pilgrims en-route to the Eternal City.
I was, and I wasn’t. That there were pilgrims on-board is certain. That there were unoccupied seats around me is also a fact. I overheard conversations between an Italian and Irish couple, both of which had decided on the spur of the moment to fly in to attend the funeral. At the same time, when they presumed that a nearby couple had similar intentions of going to the funeral they were disapointed. The young couple, with what I may have immagined to have been a slight hint of disdain, responded “no, we’re going to Firenze”.
It’s hard to make sense of Karol Wojtyla’s death. The public response has been beyond all expectations, or perhaps has been the fulfillment of years of expectation?* How much has the extraordinary arrival of millions of the faithful been provoked by the extraordinary media coverage?
Since the death in February of poet and senator Mario Luzi, Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi* has a post to fill in the Italian Senate. Amongst the names in the running, which is taken from Italy’s cultural elite, are writers Oriana Fallaci and Andrea Camilleri. Both have had spectacular success with their books, topping the […]
IMPAC prize winning Orhan Pamuk’s Snow is an overtly political, but not polemical, novel dealing with the tensions below the surface in modern day Turkey.
