Sir, - One of the noblest duties of the press is to educate its readers so that, for example, when an Irish businessman or tourist flies to Italy he's not surprised to see that we are not only a "magical, beautiful country blessed with Mediterranean weather etc." (nothing about prize spaghetti, and mandolin), but also a strong economic power and a very modern nation. From this point of view the article by Paddy Agnew in "The Business This Week" supplement of January 23rd represents a good example of bad journalism. His attitude is, as usual, hostile, xenophobic, and outrageous, and somebody who hadn't ever been to Italy, after reading two or three of his pieces, would probably think that we are a mix of hell and Disneyland populated by perfect idiots and criminals. He never reminds the average Irish reader that Italy is one of the six founding members of the European Union in Rome in 1957, that we have the 5th biggest GDP in the world (before UK), and that Ireland is flooded with Italian products (e.g. Ariston, Ignis, Indesit, etc).Paddy tries to be funny when he writes that for a cappuccino you have to "dish out" literally thousands of lira" (it costs 1,500 lire) as if, for instance, it is not the same to say that the distance between Dublin and Cavan is 112,000 metres or 112 kilometres (and, anyway, I can assure you that Italians feel wealthy when they come to Ireland). The unbelievable bizarre core message of his article is that Italy shouldn't qualify for EMU mainly because traffic and parking in Rome are not good (Dublin is not much better and I wouldn't exchange Rome with any city in the world); not all motorcyclists wear an helmet (including most of the Irish people living in Rome that I know - at the moment helmets are compulsory on all motorcycles bigger than 50 cc and on 50 cc scooters for drivers younger than 18); our public officials do not always speak English or German (I have rarely found Irish public officials speaking Italian, French, or even Irish), and credit card facilities are not always available.However, what do the above issues have to do with qualifying or not for the EMU? What is Paddy trying to say; that we are not a civilised enough country? No surprise, after all this bilious brain-wash now lasting for years, that an average modern unbanised Italian with tertiary education coming to Ireland and familiar with a couple of foreign languages has to face rude and primitive statements against his own country, which sadly compares with the very friendly attitude of Italians towards Ireland and the Irish.Journals coming from across the ocean carry reports on modern Italy sharper and closer to reality (such as a recent article published last November in Fortune magazine in which both Rome and Milan - together with Dublin - were rated among the best 10 cities in the world for recent improvements, opportunities, and, therefore, investments).I wonder if, as a matter of respect towards his own readers, your correspondent shouldn't try to be more enthusiastic and less angry towards the country where, in spite of his nasty and angry reports, even himself is very pleased to live and work. - Yours, etc.(Dr) Luigi Basso,Elm Way,Lucan, Co Dublin.