Ireland well placed as long as hard Brexit can be avoided

The considerable uncertainty surrounding Brexit and sharp depreciation of sterling over the past two years certainly present challenges for the Irish economy, writes Oliver Mangan.

However, it continues to power ahead, with little sign yet of any significant deceleration in growth from the 5% rate recorded in 2016. Clearly, there are an array of strong growth factors at work in the economy.

The external environment is very important given the economy’s dependence on exports. Global growth has strengthened this year, with a noticeable pick-up in the pace of activity in the eurozone in recent quarters. Growth is also stronger in the US this year. Meantime, activity has held up better than expected in the UK post the vote for Brexit.