Multinationals cushion Ireland from Covid hit but domestic economy still shrinks by 5.4%

Pharma and IT firms based here raise GDP but, domestically, the pain is unevenly distributed across economy 

CSO

Ireland is so far the only country in Europe whose economy has grown during the Covid-19 economic storm, thanks to the multinationals, but alternative measures more accurately reflect the pain for Irish households,CSO figures confirm. 

On the GDP measure, the economy grew by a remarkable 3.4% thanks to exports of the many pharma and IT multinationals based here, but another much more realistic measure, based on domestic demand, showed the economy slumped by 5.4%.