'Spectacular' economic growth of almost 6% predicted
A group representing businesses expects economic growth to hit 5.7% this year, the strongest rate in Europe.
According to IBEC's latest Quarterly Economic Outlook, Irish consumers are more up-beat, and lower oil prices are adding momentum to consumer recovery.
It is also predicting that unemployment figures will fall to single digits next year.
"By any measure, the Irish economy is dong exceptionally well. If you look across developed economies, the three that really stand out are ourselves, the UK and the US," said Fergal O'Brien, Head of Policy at IBEC.
"Fortunately for Ireland, the UK and US are two of our most important trading partners - so it is helping to lift the Irish economy out of recession.
"We're seeing this normalisation of consumer spending and construction activity. Europe remains in a pretty bad place, but Ireland's growth - between 5-6% this year, by any measure, is quite spectacular."
