Delano marked its last Delano Live event of the year by inviting four lively panelists to reflect on the high and lowlights of the past year and share their expectations for the future.

On Tuesday, Ara City Radio’s Lisa McLean, Mary Carey of PwC Luxembourg, RTL journalist François Aulner and Pirate Party leader and MP Sven Clement shared their insights and wisdom with around 200 guests.

The long, hot summer was cited by Aulner as a highlight and it provided favourable conditions for Clement when he hit the campaign trail ahead of this year’s elections. Perhaps not surprisingly, his highlight was securing the party’s two first seats in parliament.

McLean counted gaining Luxembourg nationality and being able to vote for the first time in the 14 October elections as among her highlights.

While Carey became a grandmother in 2018, she mentioned among her low points her disappointment with deputy prime minister Etienne Schneider, over the handling of a yoghurt factory application and the Planetary Resources investment in which it lost €12m. “I think it opened a debate and I think it’s a good thing. Should we be just making money or be worried about the environment?” she said.

For Aulner, the low point was the realisation that “no one has a clue where we’re going in the next ten years.” Staying in the realm of politics, Clement’s lowlight was the continued spread of populism in Europe. “Every country has the stupid politicians. It didn’t stop with fake news and populists telling lies.”

This was particularly pertinent for Britain’s planned departure from the EU, which cast a cloud over much of McLean’s 2018 and led her to call for people to act in the face of growing fake news and populism. “We can’t stay silent. If you stay silent, you’re complicit”, she said, a comment which earned her an applause from the audience.

Looking to 2019, Aulner said he was heartened to see so many citizen movements being formed to counter the worrying trends that McLean had raised and help get people on board for a more environmentally sustainable way of life in Luxembourg.

Carey raised hopes that Prince Louis would pay estranged wife Tessy a decent alimony in their contentious divorce settlement. She largely supported the new government programme and added that it was time to trust the “youth coming up”.

McLean, meanwhile, said that she’d like to see more opportunities for sustainable investments in Luxembourg, a reference to earlier discussions that investment in Luxembourg tends to be focused purely in real estate.

Listen to the full panel discussion:

Each edition of Delano Live features live on-stage interviews with people and on topics covered by Delano magazine, but with a fresh perspective. That’s followed by an open-bar and a bit of networking.

Delano Live is organised by the Paperjam Club and sponsored by ING Luxembourg.

Watch video highlights: