‘Strong growth’ for Irish economy expected despite Brexit clouds

The cloud of uncertainty over Ireland caused by Brexit will likely take years to lift amid concerns over the looming EU-UK talks but the economy will nonetheless perform relatively strongly in the coming years, according to a major report from Investec Ireland.

The bank increased its GDP growth forecast to 4.6% this year, up from growth of 3.4% in its previous forecast, meaning it believes despite the Brexit clouds the economy will continue to outpace other countries in the EU.

Acknowledging the huge distortions caused by multinational tax accounting in estimating Irish economic numbers, Investec projects the economy will also grow rapidly in 2018, by 4%, because underlying growth remains robust.