Davy's: Euro-area recession 'likely'

Davy's has revised downward its prediction for the Irish economy.

The financial firm said there has been a collapse in confidence since September.

Chief Economist at the company, Conal McCoille, has predicted a euro-area recession.

Mr McCoille said: "I'm afraid we are revising downward quite sharply. We were expecting growth of 1.7% in 2012 back in September but we have revised that down for GDP growth of 0.4%.

"That is really because of the European debt crisis. Since September, we have seen a collapse in consumer confidence. The most likely outcome looks likely to be a euro-area recession."