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David McWilliams and comedian Des Bishop will both be there... James Horan/Photocall Ireland

'Cautious optimism', laughter and Mammynomics promised at Kilkenomics

The five-day festival returns for its third year next month.

MAMMYNOMICS AND ARE We Addicted to Bad News? are just two of the shows in the upcoming Kilkenomics festival which will see economics discussed with a healthy dose of Irish humour.

Returning for a third year, the five-day festival will run from 1-4 November, featuring familiar faces David McWilliams, Paul McCulley, Max Keiser, Des Bishop and Colin Murphy.

The event aims to remove the jargon, political squabbling and elitism usually involved in economic debate, with organisers promising “cautious optimism and laughter” as an antidote to the “horror of the last few years of bank bailouts, spending cuts and being monitored at work by Angela Merkel”.

McWilliams said, “We want to remove the depressing tone from the debate.”

One person hoping to achieve this is the creator of the hugely popular @irishmammies Twitter account, Colm O’Regan, who brings the woman back to life with his 60-minute show Mammynomics.

“She remembers when you hadn’t an arse to your trousers, she didn’t know where you heard that bad language from, and wondered how on earth you could spend that much on a handbag. Like Silvermints, a broad tax base, and Live At 3, the Irish Mammy was cast to one side during the boom as we forgot everything we learnt and paid with everything we owned,” he says.

McWilliams, along with Max Keiser, Damien Kiberd, Fintan O’Toole, Neil Delamere and Brian Lucey, will discuss Ireland’s seeming “relentless negativity” in Are We Addicted to Bad News? on 3 November.

Paul McCulley, the man who coined the phrase the ”shadow banking system” and the “Minsky Moment” and who as the former chief economist and managing director of PIMCO, will give the Raymond Crotty Lecture also on 3 November.

All of the debates and discussions will feature comedic interludes from Des Bishop, Neil Delamere, Colm O’Regan, Colin Murphy, Kevin Gildea, Barry Murphy and Karl Spain.

Tickets are on sale now.

VIDEO: David McWilliams explains why the world economy is still doomed

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14 Comments
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    Mute Maria Hickey-Fagan
    Favourite Maria Hickey-Fagan
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    Oct 11th 2022, 1:45 PM

    Only because he knows nobody will tolerate the reimposition of restrictions

    150
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    Mute Declan Doyle
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    Oct 11th 2022, 1:50 PM

    @Maria Hickey-Fagan: yYou’re dead right, look at the fallout lockdowns are having on inflation which is a long way from finished yet. Lockdowns affecting and will affect more than covid ever did…

    114
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    Mute Joe_X
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    Oct 11th 2022, 11:37 PM

    @Declan Doyle: really? A certain war currently ongoing has nothing to do with it? You know, the one driving up the prices of electricity and causing an energy crisis…….something that to my knowledge the lockdowns never did.

    5
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    Mute alan
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    Oct 11th 2022, 12:21 PM

    Good idea to get going on a winter strategy…almost midway through October. Donnelly on the ball.

    134
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    Mute Mickety Dee
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    Oct 11th 2022, 12:23 PM

    @alan: Eh, they’ve published the plan? That’s well beyond strategy

    59
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    Mute Frank Cauldhame
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    Oct 11th 2022, 6:52 PM

    @alan: C’mon, what evidence of proactivity have we seen from this gov’t, they spend all their time chasing their tails. There are certain areas where we should err on the side of caution yet when it comes to Covid.

    14
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    Mute Crow
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    Oct 11th 2022, 12:38 PM

    His plan to treat Long-COVID is to ignore it and hope it goes away by itself.

    Imagine getting away with that in any other profession.

    133
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    Mute Conor King
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    Oct 11th 2022, 1:39 PM

    @Crow: imagine still going on about long covid

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    Mute Crow
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    Oct 11th 2022, 1:48 PM

    @Conor King: you would be ‘still going on about it’ if you were totally debilitated by it.

    Imagine belittling sick people because you want to deny reality. Back to you QAnon mates there like a good lad.

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    Mute Damien Leen
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    Oct 11th 2022, 1:49 PM

    @Crow: like they did with covid initially

    24
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    Mute Stephen Grehan
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    Oct 11th 2022, 1:51 PM

    Journal deletes documentary from the UK, that available on most platforms so the one sided narrative continues. Well done Journal.

    96
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    Mute SquintEastwood
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    Oct 11th 2022, 2:18 PM

    @Stephen Grehan: and nobody even got to call you a conspiracy theorist

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    Mute SquintEastwood
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    Oct 11th 2022, 2:21 PM

    @Stephen Grehan: thumbs up for trying

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    Mute SquintEastwood
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    Oct 11th 2022, 2:23 PM

    @SquintEastwood: Safe and Effective: A Second Opinion

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    Mute Stephen Grehan
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    Oct 11th 2022, 2:47 PM

    @SquintEastwood: Well done i was afraid to mention it as i suspect that comment would also be deleted. Perhaps the Journalist Tadgh McNally would care to explain why it was deleted when most platforms are showing this now, when up until a few weeks ago would have taken it down.

    33
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    Mute Sequoia
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    Oct 11th 2022, 1:17 PM

    I’m fully vaxxed, have had it twice and the second time was a whole lot easier.

    My father in law has just had it for the third time and had little more than a sore throat.

    I’ll get the fku & covid jab and continue on.

    We really need to stop going on about it at this point and just get on with life.

    103
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    Mute Tom Jacob
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    Oct 11th 2022, 2:44 PM

    @Sequoia: You tell everyone to not talk about it meanwhile you’re talking about it? Thanks for giving us your father in laws life story

    49
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    Mute Sequoia
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    Oct 11th 2022, 2:56 PM

    @Tom Jacob:

    My opinion & thoughts are vitally important round here.

    Didn’t you get the memo? I’m kind of a big deal.

    Have an awesome day.

    30
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    Mute Frank Cauldhame
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    Oct 11th 2022, 7:04 PM

    @Sequoia: I thought at first you said, “I’m fully waxed….”

    Agree with your post, I think the gov’t have exhausted their money orchard.

    8
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    Mute Celtic Eagle
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    Oct 11th 2022, 12:30 PM

    1 in 40 had the virus last week in Northern Ireland. I’d imagine its similar here.

    36
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    Mute Ian James Burgess
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    Oct 11th 2022, 12:41 PM

    @Celtic Eagle: exactly, case numbers rising quickly in the UK, but sure let’s not talk about it in Ireland and hope it goes away

    61
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    Mute Tom Jacob
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    Oct 11th 2022, 2:38 PM

    @Ian James Burgess: Ya gman because talking about it will make it go away. Does every comment you make about it reduce cases by 1 or what? If you’re so afraid of Covid then stay in your room all day lol

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    Mute Paul Hedderman
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    Oct 11th 2022, 4:16 PM

    @Celtic Eagle: I dont believe thats true unless you can back that up!……. In the whole of the UK there was 62.4k new cases reported in the week to the 6th of October (From Our World In Data)….. 1 in 40 of population of 1.9 million in the north is around 47.5k people. By what your saying most of the cases in the while of the UK just happen to be in the north……… Then when you say you imagine its the same here that equates to around 125k cases here in a week?!?! Laughable!…… Officially its 2.4k here in the week to 5th of Oct.

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    Mute Celtic Eagle
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    Oct 11th 2022, 4:37 PM

    Google it, I cant post links.

    3
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    Mute Paul Hedderman
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    Oct 11th 2022, 6:35 PM

    @Celtic Eagle: I did. In the last 7 days there was 1,819 cases in the north. Far from 1 in 40 in a population of 1.9million or 47.5k!……. Funny how you can make up stuff and not back it up with links but I can post links…… Link to the NI covid dashboard…… Some dose of fake news out of you!

    https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoiODJjOGE3ZDUtM2ViNy00YjBlLTllMjktOTNjZjlkODJhODU4IiwidCI6ImU3YTEzYWVhLTk0MzctNGRiNy1hMjJiLWNmYWE0Y2UzM2I2ZSJ9

    3
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    Mute Paul Hedderman
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    Oct 11th 2022, 6:36 PM

    @Celtic Eagle: just over 1 in 1,000 FYI

    2
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    Mute Gearóid MacEachaidh
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    Oct 11th 2022, 2:03 PM

    Hospital numbers here have risen by approx 100 over the last week and the percentage of positive tests by 4%. Thankfully icu numbers haven’t risen. It was 11 last night which is down a couple from this time last month. Vaccines are still important though. The UK are still averaging around 300 covid related deaths per week. Of course they didn’t have the same uptake in vaccines among the older population that we had, especially in ethnic groups. I get my 2nd booster tomorrow and I’m dreading it. Have had reactions to all my shots so far. But needs must.

    31
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    Mute Tom Jacob
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    Oct 11th 2022, 2:33 PM

    @Gearóid MacEachaidh: No one cares

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    Mute Gearóid MacEachaidh
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    Oct 11th 2022, 5:39 PM

    @Tom Jacob: well clearly you do

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    Mute Damien Leen
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    Oct 11th 2022, 6:37 PM

    @Gearóid MacEachaidh: he’s a half wit, pay no attention.

    8
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    Mute alan
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    Oct 11th 2022, 12:21 PM

    Good idea to get going on a winter strategy…almost midway through October. Donnelly on the ball.j

    23
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    Mute Betty O Sullivan
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    Oct 11th 2022, 12:29 PM

    @alan: Shrup

    54
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    Mute Tom Jacob
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    Oct 11th 2022, 2:34 PM

    @alan: No one cares about Covid unless your 90 years old and smoked 100 fags a day since you were 5.

    46
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    Mute Lisa O'Connor
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    Oct 11th 2022, 5:57 PM

    Good god, sounds like they will only make masks mandatory in certain situations, if it happens, though I’m not holding my breath. Similar to 2020, how they mandated masks in shops and on public transport before other places like covid can’t spread in other areas outside of shops/public transport/healthcare.

    5
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    Mute Joe_X
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    Oct 11th 2022, 11:27 PM

    @Lisa O’Connor: no, but they are the places where the public congregate and move around the most (shops) or are packed in the most(public transport)

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    Mute Verners Tess
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    Oct 11th 2022, 11:32 PM
    3
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    Mute Joe_X
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    Oct 11th 2022, 9:11 PM

    Well those of us who are willing to be vaxed are better protected and those who don’t want it can take their own chances, as long as when they do catch it, they have the cop on to stay away from others.

    BTW, before anyone mentions it, those who contract it and are vaxed, already show that they have that cop on seeing as they got vaxed in the first place!

    2
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