Ireland exits recession, but recovery seen a long way off

Ireland exited recession, as export-driven gross domestic product grew 2.7 per cent during the first quarter, official channels said on Wednesday, although some observers remained critical of the level of hardship shouldered by taxpayers.

Ireland was the first country in the euro zone to announce it was in recession in 2008. It was also one of the worst-performing economies in the currency block last year, suffering a GDP contraction of 7.1 per cent. The GDP fell more than 14 per cent in the two years to end-2009.

Ireland's return to growth was helped by exports, which rose 6.9 per cent in the first quarter, the second strongest quarter for exports on record.

Quarter-on-quarter, GDP was down 2.5 per cent in the first three months of 2009 and 2.7 per cent in Q4 last year.

Gross national product, excluding profits from multinationals, fell 0.5 per cent during the first quarter, as against a fall of 2 per cent in the previous quarter and a fall of 5.2 per cent a year ago.

Analysts say forward-looking surveys of sentiment among exporters suggest that manufacturing and services exports would experience a strong year in 2010.