ECONOMIST PROFESSOR MORGAN Kelly has warned that Ireland could take as long as ten years to recover from its current economic woes.

“Typically when you have a big credit bust like this… You’re talking about a decade for things to recover,” he said.

In a rare public appearance, the UCD academic was giving a keynote speech at the Kilkenny Arts Festival last night. He gave his personal overview of the Irish economy, speaking about “where we came from, where we are, where we’re going.”

Professor Kelly, sometimes nicknamed ‘Dr Doom’ after accurately predicting the economic crash, said Ireland still has “very big problems” – adding that the banking crisis was just a distraction from the underlying issues in the Irish economy. He said that huge mortgage debts and unemployment among Irish people would be a millstone around the country’s neck as it struggled to recover, and that the country was currently “insolvent”. “We owe more money than we can realistically repay,” he said.

Earlier this year, Professor Kelly hit headlines when he called on the Government to default on its debts and implement drastic austerity measures as the quickest route to recovery. He said he had since gone back on this conviction. “Things have got worse, we’re stuck with [the bailout],” he said.

However, he said that he does not believe the Eurozone will collapse due to the current debt crisis. “Eventually it [the problem] will be solved,” he said. “The Eurozone is too complex to collapse.”

Listen to Morgan Kelly’s lecture in full >

Thanks to Kilkenny Arts Festival.