Economist David McWilliams to open one of Tipperary's most popular weekend festivals

Economist David McWilliams will officially launch the Kickham Country Festival in 2020.

He will open the event in Mullinahone Community Centre on Friday evening, May 1, and give the keynote address.

He is the latest in a recent list of high profile personalities to launch the event, including RTE’s Mary Wilson; journalist Billy Keane and disability right activist Joanne O’Riordan.

The festival, dedicated to the life and times of author and patriot Charles J. Kickham, runs from May 1-3.

David McWilliams is an economist, author, journalist, documentary-maker and broadcaster. He is Adjunct Professor of Global Economics at the School of Business Trinity College Dublin and is ranked 10th most influential economist in the world.

He has devoted his entire professional life to the objective of making economics as widely available and easily understandable on as many platforms and to as many people as possible –and is having a laugh doing it.

As a result, he co-founded the world’s only economics and stand-up comedy festival Kilkenomics – described by the FT as “simply, the best economics conference in the world”.