Bloomberg Ireland Economic Summit, Dublin May 16 2012

[PaddyJoe]

There should be queues around the block for this one

PROGRAM AGENDA AS OF MAY 1st:


Please note that the program is subject to change.


DAY 1 | Wednesday, May 16th, 2012 8:25 am PARTICIPANT CHECK-IN & BREAKFAST

8:55 am WELCOME & OPENING REMARKS

9:00 am SPECIAL ADDRESS: THE DEPARTMENT OF THE TAOISEACH

Enda Kenny, T.D., Taoiseach of Ireland

9:20 am UPDATE ON THE IRISH ECONOMY WITH FINANCE MINISTER MICHAEL NOONAN

Michael Noonan, Minister of Finance, Department of Finance, Ireland

Interviewed by:
Dara Doyle, Dublin Bureau Chief, Bloomberg News

10:00 am IS IRELAND ON THE PATH TO RECOVERY?

Topics to be discussed:
- Outlook on Ireland’s economy
- May 31 referendum on the European Fiscal Treaty: pro’s and con’s of ratification
- Viability of the old Celtic tiger formula and the need for a new strategy
- Ireland-EU Relationship.

Speakers:
Alan Ahearne, Member of the Commission (Board), Central Bank of Ireland
Lucinda Creighton, T.D., Minister of State for European Affairs, Republic of Ireland
Fergus McCormick, Head of Sovereign Ratings, DBRS

Interviewed by:
Mark Gilbert, London Bureau Chief, Bloomberg News

10:35 am INVESTING IN IRELAND

Topics to be discussed:
- Investment opportunities in Ireland
- Investing in Ireland vs. the rest of Europe: pro’s and con’s
- Best ways to play the Irish market
- How to make money in Ireland?

Speakers:
Kathleen C. Gaffney, Vice President and Portfolio Manager, Fixed Income Group, Loomis Sayles & Company L.P.
Desmond Lawrence, Vice President, State Street Global Advisors Ireland Limited; Senior Product Engineer, SSgA Investment Solutions Group (ISG)
David C. McCourt, Founder and Chairman, Grananhan McCourt Capital
Fergal O'Leary, Director, Glas Securities Limited

Interviewed by:
Dara Doyle, Dublin Bureau Chief, Bloomberg News

11:10 am CHINA’S INTEREST IN IRELAND

Topics to be discussed:
- Why is China interested in Ireland?
- What are the advantages/disadvantages of China investing in Ireland?
- Will this lead to other Asian markets getting interested in Ireland?
- Will we see Brazil, Russia & India invest in Ireland?

Speakers:
Douglas Borthwick, Managing Director and Head of Trading and Strategy, FarosTrading, LLC
Eoin Fahy, Chief Economist, Multi-Asset Strategist, Kleinwort Benson Investors
Colm McCarthy, Lecturer, University College Dublin
Barry O'Leary, Chief Executive Officer, IDA Ireland

Interviewed by:
Bloomberg News Journalist

11:45 am ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS IN IRELAND?

Topics to be discussed:
- Does Ireland provide an advantageous landscape for hedge funds?
- Outlook for the hedge fund industry in Ireland
- What are other alternative investment possibilities in Ireland?

Speakers:
Olwyn M. Alexander, Partner and Hedge Fund Leader, EMEA, PwC, PwC
Louis Gargour, CIO, CEO and Managing Partner, LNG Capital LLP
Hans Humes, President and CIO, Greylock Capital Management, LLC

Interviewed by:
Cormac Mullen, Global Markets Reporter, Bloomberg News

12:20 pm REAL ESTATE

Topics to be discussed:
- What caused Ireland's real estate boom and bust
- Workout strategies and deleveraging in a small market
- Ireland's attractiveness to overseas buyers

Speakers:
Simon Kelly, Property Developer and Author, Breakfast with Anglo
Ronan Lyons, Economic Consultant, Commentator and Author, Daft.ie Report
William K. Nowlan, Managing Director, W.K. Nowlan & Associates
Tom Parlon, Director General, Construction Industry Federation (CIF)

Interviewed by:
Neil Callanan, Reporter, Real Estate, Bloomberg News

12:55 pm LUNCH

1:55 pm WELCOME BACK REMARKS

Mark Gilbert, London Bureau Chief, Bloomberg News

2:00 pm BANKING IN IRELAND

Topics to be discussed:
- Financial regulation and the Irish banking crisis
- What is the outlook for the banking sector in Ireland?
- The Irish banking system – does it work? How can it be improved

Speakers:
Alan Dukes, Chairman, Irish Bank Resolution Corporation Limited (IBRC); Public Affairs Consultant, WHPR, Dublin
Dan McLaughlin, Chief Economist, Bank of Ireland
John Studzinski, Senior Managing Director and Global Head, Blackstone Advisory Partners LP
Michael Torpey, Head of Shareholding Management Unit - Banking Division, Department of Finance, Ireland

Interviewed by:
Dara Doyle, Dublin Bureau Chief, Bloomberg News

2:40 pm U.S. TECH COMPANIES IN IRELAND

Topics to be discussed:
- Opportunities in Ireland for multinational corporations – does the Irish tech landscape lend itself well to big U.S. tech companies?
- Competition between U.S. & Irish technology companies

Speakers:
Stephen Brennan, Vice President, Research Labs and Shared Engineering Services Group, Symantec
Travis Carpico, President, Fidelity Investments Ireland
Donald McLaughlin, Director, Scotland & Ireland, Cisco Systems
Steven M. Winter, Managing Director, SAP UK and Ireland

Interviewed by:
David J. Lynch, Senior Writer, Bloomberg News; Author, When the Luck of the Irish Ran Out

3:15 pm TECH ENTREPRENEURS IN IRELAND

Topics to be discussed:
- How big is the startup scene in Ireland? What is the outlook for entrepreneurship in Ireland? Has the sector seen recent growth?
- What kinds of companies thrive in Ireland? What is the Irish consumer looking for?

Speakers:
Dylan Collins, Executive Chairman, Fight My Monster; Startup Ambassador, Enterprise Ireland
Mike Feerick, Founder and CEO, ALISON; Chairman and Founder, Ireland Reaching Out
Conall Mac Coille, Chief Economist, Davy
John Whelan, Partner and Head of IP & Technology, A&L Goodbody

Interviewed by:
Cormac Mullen, Global Markets Reporter, Bloomberg News

3:50 pm U.S. – IRELAND RELATIONS

Topics to be discussed:
- Historical bilateral relationship between the US & Ireland: how has it evolved? How has it helped business connections between the two countries?
- US & Ireland: Challenges & Opportunities

Speakers:
Kingsley Aikins, Former President and CEO of The Ireland Funds, Networking Guru and International Speaker
David C. McCourt, Chairman and CEO, Granahan McCourt Capital
David McWilliams, Economist, Journalist, Broadcaster and Author

Interviewed by:
David J. Lynch, Senior Writer, Bloomberg News; Author, When the Luck of the Irish Ran Out

4:25 pm RUSSIA’S INTERESTS AND TRADE WITH IRELAND

Ireland’s bilateral trade with Russia has seen huge growth in the last year and is set to see a similar trend in 2012.

Speakers:
Constantin Gurdgiev, Head of Research, St Columbanus AG
Additional Speakers to be Announced

Interviewed by:
Bloomberg News Journalist

5:00 pm CLOSING REMARKS & SUMMIT ADJOURNS

http://www.bloomberglink.com/gatheri...?gathering=134

[C. Flower]

Fascinating. Like a summit of vultures over a decaying corpse

[PaddyJoe]

Fascinating. Like a summit of vultures over a decaying corpse

Will Denis be there?

[gfmurphy101]

Must be some kind of a joke is it ? Tom Parlon !! was he not part of the reason the whole thing went belly up, with their neo-liberal policies! Obviously Dan McLoughlan thinks its safe to start ranting more of the same neo liberal rubbish..again! McWilliams thought the Spar Generation would keep the boom going in 2005 , Gurdgiev believed it was socialist policies that would do Ireland in, in 2007, Most of these guys are pro free market and pro right wing neo liberals who were all wrong before, and now they are gonna tell us what to do next.... it beggars belief

[PaddyJoe]

Kicked off this morning with speeches by Kenny and Noonan. Kenny's speech is here:
http://www.merrionstreet.ie/index.ph...-summit/?cat=3

[PaddyJoe]

Tom Parlon and Simon Kelly dong some lobbying for the poor old construction industry.
Hashtag is #bbireland by the way.

[Holly]

It's a right rogues gallery.

[PaddyJoe]

Absolutely stunning comments from Michael Noonan this morning. This sounds like a South America dictator from the 1960s talking to the United Fruit Company:

He also told a Dublin event that no other European country but Ireland would be able to pass a referendum on the fiscal treaty. "In all other countries people are concerned about growing inequality. In Ireland we need to keep focus on more important issues of corporate profitability and tax protection we offer international organisations. This is not the time for drastic moves to the left simply to suit populist demands for simplistic idealism of "social justice"

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...reaking11.html

[DCon]

Absolutely stunning comments from Michael Noonan this morning. This sounds like a South America dictator from the 1960s talking to the United Fruit Company:

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...reaking11.html

Social Equality? What's that?

we need more corporate profits.

Lets licence the breathing of Irish air to Dennis O'Brien and tax it

[PaddyJoe]

N.B. 26 MAY 2012 - THE QUOTED TEXT HAS BEEN SOURCED TO A MASHED/HACKED IT ONLINE NEWS WEBPAGE CIRCULATED ON TWITTER 16. 5.12 - http://poof.hksr.us/flhcxyve The source of the text was neither the Irish Times nor Political World

Absolutely stunning comments from Michael Noonan this morning. This sounds like a South America dictator from the 1960s talking to the United Fruit Company:

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...reaking11.html

These particular comments about moves to the left and 'social justice disappeared from the IT article at some stage this afternoon. I had copied and pasted the piece as it appeared at lunchtime:

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan today warned voting Yes in the upcoming EU fiscal treaty referendum on May 31st would be a “leap in the dark” and a “dangerous leap but that Irish citizens should take it”.
He also told a Dublin event that no other European country but Ireland would be able to pass a referendum on the fiscal treaty. "In all other countries people are concerned about growing inequality. In Ireland we need to keep focus on more important issues of corporate profitability and tax protection we offer international organisations. This is not the time for drastic moves to the left simply to suit populist demands for simplistic idealism of "social justice"
The Minister said the mood did not exist elsewhere in the European Union that would allow for the passing of a Yes vote and there was no mood for a vote on the matter in any other European country.
The Irish people were very well informed about the proposed treaty and it was a common topic of conversation throughout the State, he said, adding: “Though there are parts of the country where they (the No Camp) haven’t a clue about the treaty."
A Yes vote would send a very strong and positive message about Ireland’s ability to run its own affairs to the world and would add greatly to the confidence people had in the Irish economy. He said the contrast to this would be the world’s view of Greece and its ability to run its affairs.
He said perhaps it would have been a good idea if Greece had had a referendum on its restructuring programme as had been proposed some time ago.
“Maybe they should have a referendum now,” the Minister said, adding that the vote should be on whether it wanted to stay in the euro, including the conditions that would apply.
Mr Noonan said all member states wanted Greece to stay in the euro and that he believed Greece could stay in the currency if it sorted out its democratic position and committed itself to the restructuring programme through which it had received €180 billion of European taxpayers’ money.
He said he did not believe it was guaranteed that Greece would leave the euro and that the country’s problem was now a democratic crisis rather than an economic one. Asked about the effect of the departure of Greece from the euro, he said Greece was very far from Ireland and there were few economic links.
For Irish people doing their weekly shopping, "apart from feta, what other Greek items do you put in the shopping basket?" Mr Noonan said. "Though I must admit its a long time since I put anything in a basket myself"
Addressing a conference on the economy in Dublin, Mr Noonan said he did not believe the new French president, François Hollande, would make any new push to have the Irish corporation tax rate changed. He said the new French president recognised that he had to deal with the French deficit position as well as the need for growth.
Economist Alan Aherne, who is a member of the Irish Central Bank, said having an austerity programme without growth was like "having an operation without an anaesthetic".
Mr Aherne said that "as matters stand", the Irish banks have enough capital. He said Irish banks might be able to use the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) to directly capitalise banks. Both he and Mr Noonan said if the Spanish banks are directly capitalised by the ESM, then that mechanism should become available as a “retro-fit” for Ireland.
Ireland borrowed money from the troika so it could invest it into the Irish banks. This means the debt now forms part of the Irish debt to GDP ratio.
Mr Noonan said the treaty “promotes financial capitalism”, and would prevent future Governments from spending and borrowing excessively from future generations to finance "reckless and unsustainable" budgetary policies. He argued that there are no other alternatives saying "the No camp want to turn Europe into North Korea"
“These rules will ensure that never again a Government will be able to increase current expenditure on the back of growth in unsustainable tax receipts from, for example, property bubbles,” he added.
Responding to suggestions that the rules would lead to Ireland’s budgetary and fiscal policies being decided in Brussels or Berlin, he said that the Government of the day will still be “free to decide” what level of public services that they wish.
The Taoiseach, also speaking at the Bloomberg Ireland Economic Summit, said the fiscal compact would ensure no future government here or in Europe could misuse the people’s money. He said deposits were returning to Irish banks and continued to flow back.
A Yes vote would encourage continued investment in Ireland, he added.

Why would the IT change the piece to edit out those few lines?

<MOD INSERT - PLEASE READ FULL THREAD FOR UPDATES ON THIS: http://www.politicalworld.org/showthread.php?t=11755 CF>

[C. Flower]

Absolutely stunning comments from Michael Noonan this morning. This sounds like a South America dictator from the 1960s talking to the United Fruit Company:

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...reaking11.html

Like "feed our children"?

Not surprising coming from Noonan. We saw it with Hepatitis C. He's a Merchant of Death.

He's also about as economically literate as poor Lenihan - no links with Greece bar feta "because we are far apart."

He said he did not believe it was guaranteed that Greece would leave the euro and that the country’s problem was now a democratic crisis rather than an economic one. Asked about the effect of the departure of Greece from the euro, he said Greece was very far from Ireland and there were few economic links.

For Irish people doing their weekly shopping, "apart from feta, what other Greek items do you put in the shopping basket?" Mr Noonan said.

[C. Flower]

These particular comments about moves to the left and 'social justice disappeared from the IT article at some stage this afternoon. I had copied and pasted the piece as it appeared at lunchtime:

Why would the IT change the piece to edit out those few lines?

Extraordinary. Both the brutal honesty of Noonan in saying what he thinks - and what he thinks will please "the markets."

Extraordinary of the IT to delete it. I wonder which other papers and sites covered the event.

I think the IT should respond to that themselves.

[bokonon]

Extraordinary. Both the brutal honesty of Noonan in saying what he thinks - and what he thinks will please "the markets."

Extraordinary of the IT to delete it. I wonder which other papers and sites covered the event.

I think the IT should respond to that themselves.

Incredible. Was there any audio or video recording of the speech?

[C. Flower]

Incredible. Was there any audio or video recording of the speech?

Wondering that myself. Enquiries being made of various people.

The whole speech, down to the last bit of feta, was off the wall.

He had his eye on the market-oriented audience.
It was a bit like Enda going to the US and saying that it is all the fault of the Irish.
Or Lenihan, at the Citi audio-conference.

[DCon]

Incredible. Was there any audio or video recording of the speech?

RTE just showed his "Feta cheese" line on the news.

he looked like a drunk raving lunatic. Is that a prerequisite for being Irish Finance Minister these days?