13 ° C
Profile

Day: 6 September 2021

Prince donates €1 million to Ireland’s Old Library during visit

by: Cassandra Tanti
06/09/2021

Prince Albert took his children on their first official visit to Ireland last week, where he met with Irish President Michael Higgins and was recognised for his generous donation to the historic Old Library at Trinity College.

Sixty years after his parents’ visit and a decade after his own first State visit with Princess Charlene, Prince Albert II returned to his ancestral homeland on Friday with Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella by his side.

The tour began with a trip to UCD Michael Smurfit university, accompanied by Sir Michael Smurfit, Honorary Consul of Ireland in Monaco and Dean of the prestigious university.

Along with Ambassador of Ireland in Monaco Patricia O’Brien, the Prince was also taken on a guided tour of a museum dedicated to Irish literature before being welcomed for lunch at the official residence of Irish President Michael D. Higgins and his wife, Sabrina Coyne. There, the Prince was shown photos of Prince Rainier and Princess Grace’s official visit to Ireland in 1961.

Photo of Prince Albert with Irish President Michael D. Higgins and his wife Sabrina Coyne, by Eric Mathon / Prince’s Palace

In the early afternoon, Prince Albert and his children, Hereditary Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella, went to the Old Library at Trinity College where he was shown the Book of Kells, a 9th century Irish medieval manuscript famous around the world. This national treasure has been on display in the Old Library since the 1800s.

But the Princely family’s trip was more than just a cultural visit. Prince Albert was at Trinity College for the official unveiling of two friezes in his name. One, in the dining hall, sets in stone the name of himself and his wife Princess Charlene. The other, in the Old Library of the university, recognises his donation of €1 million towards the €90 million restoration of the library, which will see the removal of all 750,000 of its books into storage.

Photo of the frieze recognising HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco in the Old Library at Trinity College, by Eric Mathon / Prince’s Palace

“It is with great pleasure that through this donation I follow in the footsteps of my mother who had a deep affection for Ireland and signals the link to Princess Charlene’s forebears who were instrumental to the founding of Trinity,” said Prince Albert during the ceremony. “It is a great privilege for me − with this benefaction – to be part of this ambitious programme to conserve the 18th century Old Library building, creating a sustainable protective environment for the many extraordinary treasures it holds for Ireland and the world.”

During his visit, the Prince was also given a special viewing of the library’s collections related to the work of his grandfather Prince Albert 1, who was a keen oceanographer and explorer.

Photos by Éric Mathon, Prince’s Palace

Monaco backs global agreement to tackle marine plastic pollution

by: Cassandra Tanti
06/09/2021

With the volume of plastics flowing into the ocean set to triple by 2040 unless drastic action is taken, Monaco is among a number of countries calling for an international convention to control the making and disposal of plastics.
Monaco joined a long-list of countries participating in the Ministerial Conference on Marine Litter and Plastic Pollution, initiated by the governments of Germany, Ecuador, Ghana and Vietnam, on 1st and 2nd September. With support from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), its aim was to “create momentum and political will to advance a coherent global strategy to end marine litter and plastic pollution with an aim to ensuring a future with clean seas.”
It also prepared the ground for the fifth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly on this subject, to be held between 28th February and 2nd March 2022.
In his speech to the conference, UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen said: “The forthcoming UNEP report, from Pollution to Solution, shows that marine litter is inescapable. Unless we take drastic action, by 2040, the volume of plastics flowing into the ocean will triple. Micro and nano plastics are pervasive. The pandemic is compounding the problem.”
Inger Andersen also highlighted new research which found that 80 per cent of plastic waste comes to the sea through 1,000 rivers. Scientists used to think 20 rivers at most carried the majority of plastic into the oceans, but now they know that it’s far more, complicating potential solutions.
“Humans generate almost 1.3 billion tonnes of municipal solid waste every year,” he said. “Yet many major cities lack adequate solid waste infrastructure. Poor waste management adds to the overall health cost of plastics in the environment.”
The UNEP Executive Director pointed to another new report from the Plastic Waste Makers Index, which has revealed the 20 companies that are responsible for producing more than half of all single-use plastic waste in the world, fuelling the climate crisis and creating environmental catastrophe. Among the global businesses are ExonMobil, Dow – the largest chemicals company in the world based in the US, and China’s oil and gas enterprise Sinopec.
“Climate change. Nature and biodiversity loss. Pollution. Plastics are wrapped up in all of them,” said Andersen. “The conclusion is obvious. Marine litter is best addressed by rethinking how we design, use and dispose of plastics. We need to revisit and inform the entire supply chain. And if we do this, we can make our economies, societies and planet greener and healthier.”
Monaco, in line with most participating countries, agreed on the need for an international convention dealing with the production, recycling, recovery and disposal of single-use plastic and plastic waste.
 
 
 
Photo of waterway pollution in Guatemala by Alexander Schimmeck on Unsplash
 
 
 

Leclerc “not completely happy” with Dutch Grand Prix

by: Stephanie Horsman
06/09/2021

It was a good showing for Team Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr this weekend at the Dutch Grand Prix, though neither driver was satisfied with their finishes.
The Dutch Grand Prix Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc coming in at fifth place and Carlos Sainz in seventh, but neither pilot was thrilled with the outcome.
“I am not completely happy with P5 because I think that if we had done a better job yesterday in qualifying and if I had put the lap together, I think fourth place was definitely on the cards,” said Leclerc after the race.“Pace-wise, we were the best in the midfield but it was just difficult to show it today because we were struggling to get close to (Pierre) Gasly.
“This track is incredible. It is very, very challenging physically. We did everything good today, I just think we could’ve been better in qualifying yesterday.”
Sainz had a tough afternoon as well, struggling to keep pace with Leclerc and then losing his spot to countryman Fernando Alonso on the last lap, though he was more introspect in his assessments.
“I honestly didn’t enjoy it at all, just sliding around,” he said. “Honestly I had zero pace in the car today. I didn’t feel at home with it compared to the rest of the weekend. For some reason I was very far away in terms of feeling.
“It was very, very strange. Honestly, it’s a big puzzle at the moment because I don’t know where the pace went and I’m pretty sure there was something going on that I need to look into. Let’s hope we can find what happened before next weekend.”
On the plus side, team Ferrari had a point’s boost that pulled them ahead of McLaren with an 11.5 point advantage.
“That’s exactly what we needed this weekend,” said Leclerc. “Whenever we know McLaren are struggling a little bit more, that’s where we need to take those opportunities and put both cars in the points and that’s what we did today.”
Charles wasn’t the only Leclerc to be in the news this weekend. Little brother Arthur won an F3 victory in Vandvoort with less than a second to spare.
“It’s a great pleasure to win here in front of a full grandstand,” declared the younger Leclerc. “Yesterday, I made a mistake in qualifying. We had to turn the page. It’s done. But we still have work to do to improve our pace in the race.”
In the end, the Dutch Grand Prix saw the usual one-punch of Max Verstappen in first, followed by Lewis Hamilton in second. Valteri Bottas rounded out the podium in third.
 
 
Photo credit Scuderia Ferrari Press Office
 
 
 

Monaco marks 77th anniversary of its liberation

by: Stephanie Horsman
06/09/2021

The Mairie hosted a commemoration ceremony for the liberation of Monaco on 3rd September, paying tribute to the brave men and women who helped free the Principality from Axis-power control.

On Friday 3rd September, Monaco’s City Hall, led by Mayor Georges Marsan, hosted a remembrance ceremony at the Monaco Cemetery as a tribute to those who participated and lived through the Italian and Nazi occupations of World War II.

The occupation began on 11th November with the Italians. After the fall of Mussolini, the Germans stepped in the September of 1943 to take their place and began almost immediately to systematically deport the Jewish population.

In his speech, Mayor Georges Marsan reminded those present that “in these uncertain times when conflicts are still present in several parts of the world which are bruising the populations, the duty of memory is still as primordial. These commemorations allow us to remember that men and women refused to be oppressed and fought at the risk of their lives for us to live free. These are important episodes in world history and in the history of our country.”

At 5pm, Mayor Marsan, Marjorie Crovetto, Jean-Marc Deoriti-Castellini, Karyn Ardisson Salopek, André J. Campana and Claude Bollati, Deputy Mayor, participated in the traditional Ceremony of Remembrance celebrated at the Monaco Cemetery with other representatives of the Principality.

Wreaths were laid in front of the war memorial before everyone moved to the cemetery to gather at the graves of Monegasque resistance fights René Borghini and Joseph Lajoux who, along with Esther Poggio, were executed in August 1944, just a short time before the enemy troops retreated on 3rd September.

Members of the Commemoration Committee were also invited by the mayor and representatives from the Communal Council to join them to raise a glass to the brave people of the Principality.

 

 
Photo courtesy Mairie de Monaco
 
 

Roca team takes “friendly” win in Athens

by: Stephanie Horsman
06/09/2021

AS Monaco Basketball, playing in Athens for the Bwin Tournament Against Covid-19, had a last-minute substation for opponents, but were clearly up for the challenge, beating Peristeri 90 to 78.

When the Roca team arrived in Athens to play a friendly match, they had thought they would be up against Maccabi-TelAviv, but due to the Israeli team’s withdrawal, ironically due to Covid, they ended up in a game against local faves Peristeri.

The game saw the debut of two new players to the AS Monaco roster, Jerry Boutsiele and Brock Motum, though they were forced to play with Rob Gray and Léo Westermann who are both out with injuries.

The injuries allowed newbie Alpha Diallo to be part of the starting line-up and it turns out he was a fantastic choice. Almost immediately he intercepted the ball and converted it into a points-making slam dunk. This was soon followed up by three long-distance beauties from Motum, Yak Ouattara and Danilo Andjusic.

The Greeks were no slouches though and kept pace, ending the first quarter only one point behind Monaco at 23 to 22.

This spurred on the Roca team who used their fire to pull way so that by the halftime break they were comfortably ahead 53 to 40.

Peristeri picked up the pace after returning from the locker room, and whilst never surpassing Monaco, they pulled closer to even at several points during the second half, notably with only three minutes left on the clock where they came within one point of the Roca team.

In the end, AS Monaco pulled off the win, 90 to 78, taking them to the final round of the tournament where they will face off against Olympiakos Monday night at 7:30pm.

“This is only our second friendly match, and our first victory,” said Coach Zvezdan Mitrovic. “It’s a little too early to analyse this meeting but there have been efforts on the part of the players. We had good times, but also bad times during this game.”

Monaco made 28 shots out of 58 attempts, with seven out of 21 in three-point range. They had 20 assists, made six steals and picked up 15 stray balls. Andjusic was high scorer with 23 points, followed by Diallo with 19.

 

 

 

 

Monaco Life with AS Monaco Basketball press release, photo source AS Monaco Basketball