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Princess Grace Irish Library launches collaboration with NYU’s Glucksman Ireland House

by: Stephanie Horsman
03/05/2023

The Princess Grace Irish Library and Glucksman Ireland House at New York University are embarking on a “joint literary odyssey”, starting with a lecture by a former Irish ambassador to the USA.

The Princess Grace Irish Library (PGIL) and New York University’s (NYU) Glucksman Ireland House have long shared similar visions, but it has only been recently that the two decided to join forces for what will become an annual event.

The two entities are embarking on a yearly lecture series, which will commence with the former Irish Ambassador to the USA, Daniel Mulhall, who was also a professor of Irish Studies at NYU, with the idea that they will be able to foster other synergistic collaborations.  

“We’re delighted with this collaborative venture,” says Paula Farquharson, the director of the PGIL. “It’s a natural step as Glucksman Ireland House is New York University’s centre for the study of Ireland and the Irish diaspora, renowned for its dynamic programming and research initiatives, while the Princess Grace Irish Library is a centre of literary excellence since 1984 and a hub for the Irish community in this part of Europe.” 

She adds, “This initiative allows us to deepen our connection with Irish Americans and develop our links with key writers and academics from Glucksman Ireland House. Our shared goal is to foster an appreciation of Ireland’s literature and history, which includes two exceptional women, Princess Grace of Monaco (née Kelly) and Loretta Brennan Glucksman, who serves as Chairman of the Advisory Board of Glucksman Ireland House NYU, which she endowed with her late husband, Lewis.” 

DANIEL MULHALL’S IRISH ODYESSY 

Mulhall is coming to the Princess Grace Irish Library’s 2023 cultural forum on 10th May to speak on the theme of Irish-American influence on literature, music and culture with a talk entitled “Around the World with W.B. Yeats and James Joyce: A Diplomatic Odyssey.” 

His recently published book Ulysses: A Reader’s Odyssey (2022), which came about for the 100th anniversary of the release of the James Joyce sensation, will be the centerpiece for the lecture. 

The book has garnered much attention in intellectual as well as literary circles and was lauded by Ted Smyth, the president of the Advisory Board of Glucksman Ireland House and a former diplomat, who says, “Mulhall’s deployment of Joyce and Yeats around the world is a masterly example of exercising ‘soft power’ on behalf of Ireland. Ireland might not have a large security force, but it does have an army of fabulous writers, poets, musicians, and artists who, with our talented diplomats, enable Ireland to punch above its weight in the international arena.”  

 

Read more:

Daniel Mulhall goes “Around the World” with Yeats and Joyce

  

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Photo of the Princess Grace Irish Library via Facebook

Monaco International Dog Show: four paws at the ready

by: Stephanie Horsman
03/05/2023
monaco international dog show

Fluffed and flawless pooches of all breeds will be taking over the Chapiteau de Fontvieille for the Monaco International Dog Show this weekend. 

The Monaco International Dog Show has been a staple of the spring show circuit in the Principality since 1927, when it was founded by Monaco’s Princess Charlotte.

DIAMONDS IN THE RUFF

Organised by the Société Canine de Monaco – the Monaco Kennel Club – the two-day event will see 1,180 dogs of 210 breeds from 26 countries competing in front of an international jury made up of experts from Spain, Finland, France, Britain, Ireland, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands and Serbia.

In addition to the regular competition events, the show will include several special trials for puppies, young dogs and veterans canines, as well as a category for junior handlers.

The judges will hand out prizes to each group at the end of each day, with the grand prize for Best in Show being announced at 6pm on Sunday 7th May.

TRADITIONS HANDED DOWN

The event will be chaired by Mélanie-Antoinette de Massy, the daughter of the late Baroness Elizabeth-Ann de Massy and a cousin of Prince Albert II. The Baroness held the post from 2011 until her death in 2020, and now Mélanie-Antoinette is taking up the mantle.

The Monaco International Dog Show will be held on 6th and 7th May. Entry is €12 for adults and free for children under 12. There will be food and drink on site. For more information, click here.

 

Do you have an event in Monaco or the French Riviera that you would like us to include in our What’s On section and events calendar? Please email editor@monacolife.net.

 

Photo source: L Russ on Pixabay 

 

 

Monaco resident architect Emilio Ambasz wins top sustainability award

by: Elsa Carpenter
03/05/2023
emilio ambasz monaco

Argentinian architect Emilio Ambasz, a part-time resident of the Principality of Monaco, has won the President’s Award at the New York-based Consortium for Sustainable Urbanization. 

Described as “one of the greatest international masters of design and architecture” as well as being an established inventor with more than 220 industrial and mechanical patents to his name, 79-year-old Emilio Ambasz has dedicated his working life to green architecture.

He was handed the prestigious President’s Award by the Consortium for Sustainable Urbanization’s president and founder, Lance Jay Brown, during a gala evening event at the Century Association in New York City on 23rd March. In essence, the award is an international recognition of Ambasz’s “commitment to the fields of sustainable, responsible and resilient urbanisation, planning and design”.

In a speech, Brown highlighted some of Ambasz’s most remarkable and stand-out creations over the years, such as the Casa de Retiro Espiritual in Seville, the Arcos Centre in Fukuoka and the Lucile Halsell Conservatory in Texas.

He also spoke of Ambasz’s enduring philosophy of “green over grey” and his unique interpretation of the relationship between architecture and nature.

A man of “great influence”

“Emilio Ambasz continues to be of great influence,” said Brown. “For over 50 years, he has exemplified the capacity of design to work across disciplines and industries and to positively influence the environment we inhabit. This has been done intellectually, philosophically, and kinetically by his many and varied activities. He was so early to integrating sustainable architecture, urban design, and landscape architecture that most were not yet ready to appreciate the profundity of his work. The Consortium for Sustainable Urbanization is both privileged and pleased to honor him with this recognition.”

Left to right (click to enlarge): Casa de Retiro Espiritual in Seville, the Arcos Centre in Fukuoka and the Lucile Halsell Conservatory in Texas

The pioneering architect also shared some inspirational words with those gathered: “Every building is an intrusion into the plant kingdom and is a challenge to nature: we must devise architecture that stands as the embodiment of a reconciliatory pact between nature and construction, designing buildings so intrinsically connected to their surroundings that they are unable to disentangle themselves from each other.”

Ambasz spends part of his year living in Monaco. In the late 1990s, he came close to producing a vast land extension project in the Port of Monaco – a mainly residential and hospitality concept featuring lake, parks and the construction of a dam to add five hectares of land to the Principality – but it wasn’t to be.

 

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Photo by Wade Zimmerman

More low-impact shipping lanes and new MPAs in Canada thanks to FPA2 funding boost

by: Cassandra Tanti
03/05/2023

Canada’s largest shipbuilder and home to the National Icebreaker Centre, Chantier Davie Canada Inc. (Davie), has announced funding of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation – Canada for the expansion of the Arctic Corridors and Northern Voices program.

The Arctic Corridors and Northern Voices program, a recipient of the Governor General’s Innovation Award, trains Inuit communities in advanced technologies to map culturally sensitive areas in order to inform policy and planning for Arctic marine use and oceans governance.

“Combining western technologies and training with Inuit knowledge has proven to be a highly successful formula in supporting national and international ocean policy,” said Dr. Jackie Dawson, lead researcher and associate professor and Canada Research Chair in Environment, Society and Policy at the University of Ottawa. “Davie and the National Icebreaker Centre’s role in building a new fleet of icebreakers for the Canadian Coast Guard is of paramount importance to conservation programs and Indigenous communities in the Arctic.”

Davie’s initial funding of $150,000 (€135,000) will allow the program to be extended to other Indigenous communities whose regions have not yet been included in the program and who have requested to take part.

“It is by listening to the voices of Indigenous peoples, as well as those of scientists, that we will be able to better know and understand these vulnerable environments in order to better protect them. In this regard, the collective approach of the Arctic Corridors project, alongside Canadian Arctic communities, academics and ship operators, is to be applauded, as they work to identify low-impact shipping lanes and the creation of new marine protected areas,” said Prince Albert II of Monaco.

“No-one knows better than the Indigenous communities”

As the marine and other industries seek to benefit from the opening of Arctic sea routes, the Arctic Corridors and Northern Voices program is training Indigenous communities and providing technology to map areas which are then used to identify and develop management strategies for low-impact shipping corridors.

“Dr. Dawson’s and her team’s work is both impressive and effective. No one knows the Arctic better than the Indigenous communities who have lived there for thousands of years. It’s about training and equipping those Indigenous communities with the tools they need to provide policymakers and the industry with information to ensure that responsible shipping can continue while mitigating the potential for devastating consequences to the local population, the environment and marine life,” said Alex Vicefield, Chairman and CEO of Inocea, Davie’s parent group. “In what is one of the world’s most ecologically and culturally sensitive oceanic basins and with a sharply increasing level of Arctic shipping, creating these Arctic corridors is absolutely critical.”

Mr. Vicefield added, “We are proud to work with the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation – Canada, which is leading the way in Arctic conservation. This initiative is strongly linked to our work in building the Canadian government’s future icebreaker fleet which, amongst other things, will be critical for the protection of the Arctic and its Indigenous communities.”

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Monaco Life with press release. Photo provided. 

 

The Monegasque Supplementary Pension Fund: what’s it all about?

by: Stephanie Horsman
02/05/2023
monaco pension fund

A decade in the making, the Monegasque Supplementary Pension Fund is set to offer better terms to the Principality’s pensioners from 2024. Here’s how it will work. 

As France very publicly struggles with pension reforms, Monaco has quietly gone about restructuring its own system. 

Christophe Robino, Monaco’s Minister of Social Affairs and Health, was able to make the formal announcement of the new plan – the Monegasque Supplementary Pension Fund (CMRC) – after the National Council’s 13th April unanimous vote turned the bill into law. After a decade of efforts to reach this point, the CMRC will come into effect from 1st January 2024. 

The dual-purpose action has done two major things: notably to improve the supplementary retirement pension currently on offer from France’s Agirc-Arrco scheme, and to lower contributions paid by employees. 

MONACO’S OWN PENSION FUND

The big news is that Monaco has left the French Agirc-Arrco retirement plan set-up to create its own sovereign fund, one that will be under the control of the Monegasque government and therefore offering more flexibility and lessening the disparity between the French fund’s rules and Monaco’s retirement system. 

“We wanted to ensure our sovereignty and improve our attractiveness,” Robino told Monaco Matin recently. “By managing this fund ourselves, we will ultimately provide better pensions to retirees while having less weight for employers and employees. This therefore means, in the long term, better incomes for the latter.” 

Given the changes over the border in France, the Monegasque government recognised that sooner or later, there would be problems arising from the differences in the two systems. By repatriating the system, it heads off any issues at the pass.  

200,000 PEOPLE WILL BENEFIT 

The scheme will affect 200,000 current and past employees who work, or have worked, in Monaco for a minimum of 10 years. Those already retired will continue to receive their pensions as before from Agirc-Arrco, but will also get a bonus benefit from the CMRC in the interest of fairness.  

The supplementary scheme for civil servants is on the state budget and will represent a long term, substantial saving for the state, perhaps to the tune of several tens of millions of euros, according to Robino. Financial impact studies will have to be undertaken, though, before firm decisions are made.  

The terms of the takeover from Agirc-Arrco establish that Monaco will reimburse pensions already liquidated to the tune of €2.8 billion. The state will have 13 years to reimburse France on a hybrid plan that allows for the Monaco fund to build up reserves as well as pay back what is owed. Then it will be free and clear to operate as the government sees fit.  

“At the end of 40 years, this Monegasque Supplementary Pension Fund will be in balance, if not profitable,” said Robino, adding that this is rare for a pension plan. He also said that the gains are expected to be significant, citing “an increase of 5 to 6% in the long term”.   

 

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Rally: A vintage race with a twist heading to Monaco

by: Luke Entwistle
02/05/2023

The Serma Devinci Rally comes to the Riviera this Sunday, with eco-friendly vintage cars making the trip from Saint Tropez to Monaco.

Devinci specialises in making aesthetically vintage cars with a twist. The cars are powered by electricity and, on Sunday 7th May, will travel the length of the French Riviera, beginning in Saint Tropez and ending in front of the Palais de Monaco.

An electric weekend of racing in Monaco

Around 15 cars, driven by influencers such as Girogio Giangiulio, Fulvio Piscitelli and Sophianna Bergonzi, will head along the coastal roads between the two jewels of the region.

Whilst Sunday’s rally cars may not reach the speeds of their single-seater electric counterparts at the Monaco ePrix, which will circulate the iconic Grand Prix circuit just 24 hours before, this vintage electrical rally will give a nostalgic nod to the past whilst simultaneously looking towards the future.

 

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Photo by Devinci