Trading to be impacted by unrest across Europe

The growth of Irish exports is expected to decline sharply this year as the European crisis continues to cause havoc in Ireland’s main trading partners.

Despite strong growth in the performance of Irish exports in the first quarter, with goods and services growing 3.6%, the chief executive of the Irish Exporters Association, John Whelan, does not expect the next three quarters of the year to maintain this level of growth.

“The return to recession in the eurozone, which accounts for 39% of our goods exports and 35% of services exports, has impacted on our exports in the first three months of the year,” Mr Whelan said.