Fascinating line-up announced for Dublin’s 2018 Festival of Politics

‘A festival which goes where many fear to tread.’ The 2018 Festival of Politics takes place November 15 - 18, 2018 in Dublin.

The Temple Bar Company has announced the program for the 2018 Festival of Politics, Dublin’s only political festival, which will take place from November 15-18. The Festival of Politics provides a space whereby those with very different political outlooks can come together and challenge each other’s political position without the need to fight, abuse, argue or insult.

According to Temple Bar Company CEO, Martin Harte ‘the festival is made up of real people, the type you will bump into in a supermarket or your local pub, it’s not an abstract debate, it’s a lived-in event and it will challenge and inspire in equal measure'’.

Check out highlights from 2017, and get the scoop on the 2018 line-up: 

As America digests the results of the midterm elections, panelists including one of Donald Trump’s campaign managers reflect on where Trumpism stands mid-way through Donald Trump’s presidency, whilst on the other side of the pond the Torys dither dangerously between hard Brexit or a second referendum. This is the juncture at which we find ourselves, nestled between two of the most important political developments of the year and set against the background of a housing crisis, as we prepare for Dublin’s only festival of politics. 

The festival will bring us to Nashville and bring one of the proponents of the #MeToo movement, Jennifer Willis, to Dublin, to hear how she escaped rape and violent abuse at the hands of her father and now wants to encourage other victims of abuse to speak their minds.

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Festival of Politics

Alongside actor Stephen Rea you can meet and listen to those living in direct provision and ponder, do they need to be emancipated or is this new life better than the alternative they would face in other EU states e.g. Greece? Whilst many argue that our elected leaders bow at the altar of Big Tech, the festival asks, is it threatening our very way of life and ability to make a living; meet the US presidential candidate who agrees and says we should all have a universal income as our jobs will soon be gone.

Throughout the festival, you will meet a myriad of speakers from across the political spectrum, including controversial columnist and Spiked contributor Ella Whelan, who claims that what women really want is ‘fun, freedom and an end to feminism’, as she gives her particular views on the #Metoo Movement. Meet the hurling loving spin doctor who also happens to be the director of communications for the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy group in the European Parliament – a coalition of Eurosceptic parties including UKIP and the Italian Five Star movement who wants to take Ireland out of the EU. Learn how, why, where and when humankind got merry from the stone-age right up to the present day; eat brunch with the 'angry chef' Anthony Warner plus much more.

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Temple Bar

It must be the Festival of Politics!

Program details:

PULLING THROUGH - A Survivor’s Story

US Singer & Reality TV Star Jennifer Willis Speaks Her Mind after she and her musical siblings endured years of sexual and physical abuse at the hands of their father. Thursday 15 November, Tailors Hall, 8pm.

TRUMPISM - Just where will the path lead us?

Join President Donald J Trump’s Campaign Manager & Tennessee Director of Elections Robert Swope III as he spills the beans on life inside the 2016 Trump Campaign. He will be joined by journalist Larissa Nolan and a panel of experts from all sides of the American divide. Tailors Hall, 8pm Sunday November 18th

SCIENCE FRICTION - Sinew versus Circuitry

Zoltan Istvan arrives in Ireland fresh from his race as Governor of California and as he prepares to start his bid for the 2020 US Presidency. As a science candidate, he is striving to transform transhumanism into a thriving worldwide phenomenon, part of which is to prepare us for the fact that he believes technology will take over our jobs. At this event, his views will be challenged by futurist and bestselling author Gerd Leonhard who says it’s best not give up the day job just yet.  Tailors Hall, Friday 16 November, 8pm.

EVICTED - Poverty and Profit in the American City

A public interview with 2017 Pulitzer Prize-winning author Matthew Desmond. Set in the poorest areas of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, his book follows eight families struggling to pay rent to their landlords around the 2008 financial crises. It highlights the issues of extreme poverty, affordable housing and economic exploitation in the United States. The book won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction Pulitzer, “For a deeply researched exposé that showed how mass evictions after the 2008 economic crash were less a consequence than a cause of poverty."(awarding committee) Tailors Hall 8pm Saturday November 17th

AN EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION

Join acclaimed actor Stephen Rea & guests as he rails against the direct provision system; 18 years later this interim system remains, despite reports, political interventions and much browbeating. In Ireland those seeking asylum live in direct provision centers, hotels, disused holiday camps and other places where nobody else wants to stay, you get fed, a bed and €21.60 a week. You can’t work, you can’t even cook.  City Assembly House, 8pm Thursday November 16th

POLES APART - James Delingpole Live and Kicking

Spectator & Telegraph Journalist and author of such books as The Little Green Book of Eco-Fascism, 365 Days to Drive a Liberal crazy; Watermelons; How environmentalists are killing the planet, destroying the economy and robbing your children’s future, James Delingpole brings his own particular style of wit and analysis to the Festival of Politics. Ian O’Doherty, Hermann Kelly (Brexit freedom) and journalist, historian and author Ruth Dudley Edwards are among the guests that will form part of this lively and opinionated public rant, snowflakes beware! Tailors Hall Sunday 4pm November 18th

THE MOTHER LOAD - The Politics of Maternity

Let’s face it, it was only a matter of time before the maternal card was played, as it invariably is when women dare to venture into politics. The more successful you are the more likely a motherhood-related insult will be thrown your way. Anybody remember Julia Gillard, the former Australian prime minister, who in 2012 of whom it was said, she was “deliberately barren” by one political opponent and was accused by the then opposition leader, Tony Abbott, of running a government that 'lacks experience in raising children”. And on the other side, women with children are discouraged from entering the political arena. Can this be changed? Join Senator Lorraine Clifford Lee and guests as they tackle the thorny issue of motherhood and politics.  Friday November 16th 1pm Tailors Hall

MY ROOTS ARE SHOWING

Journalist and broadcaster Nadine O’Regan will be joined by Scottish author and rapper Darren McGarvey (aka DJ Loki) as he describes in unflinching detail the realities of growing up poor in Britain and sets out to challenge the various ways in which poverty is represented in the media and on both sides of the political divide. His book Poverty Safari has recently won the prestigious Orwell Prize. Nadine will also be joined by Irish rapper and poet Mango and Irish performance poet, actor and writer Emmet Kirwan, together the panel will discuss how their backgrounds have influenced their work and tell the audience about the issues that resonate most with them in the Ireland and Britain of today. Friday November 17th City Assembly House 8PM

#MeToo - A Year of Sexual Unfreedom?

Join outspoken journalist and author Ella Whelan as she gives her view on the #MeToo movement, opposing her is academic, feminist and activist Ailbhe Smyth; Saturday November 17th 1pm Tailors Hall

EUROTRASHED - The State of the 'European Project'

An evening of entertaining debate about the future of the EU with EU Supergirl Madeleina Kay, former UKIP MP and Welsh Assembly Member Mark Reckless, Irexit Freedom Party founder & former ambassador Dr Ray Bassett, comedian & political commentator Grainne Maguire all under the watchful eye of comedian and author Abie Philbin Bowman. Saturday November 17th 5pm Tailors Hall

BLOODY MARYS! A BRUNCHTIME DEBATE

Have a hangover beating brunch with the Angry Chef, & Author Anthony Warner, author of The Complete History of Drunkenness, Mark Forsyth, comedian Jack Barry and activist Alice Leahy at The Boxty House Temple Bar for a debate on drink, drugs, fad diets and personal responsibility. Downstairs The Boxty House, Temple Bar 1pm Sunday November 18th

For full festival details see festivalofpolitics.ie

The Festival Of Politics is organized and run by the Temple Bar Company and is supported by, The Oliver St John Gogarty Temple bar, The Porterhouse Brewing Company, Dublin City Council, The Westin Hotel, The Morgan Hotel The Boxty House, The Irish Writers Centre, The IFI and IrishCentral .