Paddy Power shares surge helps Iseq post gain in Covid-19 year

The Ftse-100 had its worst year since the 2008 financial crisis. 

The Iseq weathered the uncertainty of Brexit to end the year 4% higher. File picture: iStock

Ireland's main stock exchange index weathered the extraordinarily punishing year of Covid-19 better than most of its eurozone peers, while strongly outperforming London's Ftse-100 which clocked its worst year since the 2008 financial crisis.

Used by international investors as proxies for the Irish economy, the two main Irish banks, AIB and Bank of Ireland, were again in the frontline of the second crisis facing Ireland in 10 years and registered huge losses.