Green shoots start to show in troubled sector

GOVERNMENT ministers like good news these days and Jobs Minister Richard Bruton is no exception.

He has given a strong welcome to the latest NCB Purchasing Managers Index, which showed that growth in manufacturing has hit its second highest level in 11 years.

Mr Bruton said: “A strong export performance will be crucial in driving the recovery in the wider Irish economy. Today’s figures, the latest in a growing body of evidence of high levels of performance in manufacturing and exports, show that there are grounds for hope.”