In Italy they call him "baby Irish", and it certainly seems Italians are more interested in Ireland than the Irish are in Italy.
However, that could change with the summer signing of Robbie Keane to FC Internazionale, according to a research paper presented by Dr Maurice Fitzgerald, re search fellow in European Studies at Loughborough University.
In his paper, The Irish in Italy from James Joyce to Robbie Keane, Dr Fitzgerald suggested that Irish diaspora studies had not looked far beyond the British and US models and a "concerted reappraisal" of the diasporic experience, to include the Irish experience in the European Union, was required.
The tradition of the Irish living and working in Europe was not new, but in an "academic call to arms", Dr Fitzgerald said the first stage of his research reflecting on the Irish diaspora in Europe would concentrate on the Irish in Italy, beginning with Joyce.
Dr Fitzgerald believes diaspora studies in Europe should in turn investigate the lives of lesser known Irish men and women living in Italy and other EU countries. "It is becoming clearer that Ireland's future in the 21st century lies within the EU," said Dr Fitzgerald. "This does not mean to say that a subject such as the Irish in Italy should look at Europe's importance for Ireland in retrospect.
Europe has to be put into its proper context in order to explain what the Irish in Italy experienced during the 20th century."
Dr Fitzgerald is continuing his research and he can be contacted at: m.Fitzgerald@lboro.ac.uk