Output report set to reveal green shoots

Ireland’s economy is likely to have shown growth for the first time in three quarters when output figures for the first three months of the year are released tomorrow, a Reuters poll shows.

Ireland unexpectedly followed most of the eurozone back into recession in the last quarter of 2011 despite seeing GDP for the year as a whole rise by 0.7%, a figure the Government hopes to match this year.

The poll of 10 economists surveyed by Reuters and published yesterday, saw GDP growing by 0.6% in 2012, with a quarterly expansion of 0.4% between January and March despite flatter growth among Ireland’s main trading partners in Europe.