Ahern worried about Celtic Tiger

The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, has for the first time expressed worry about the Celtic Tiger and has said the economy must be closely watched to steer it through a dodgy period.

Mr Ahern is particularly worried about the continuing downturn in the US economy and the fall in profits at US companies based in Ireland.

The IT sector is suffering the brunt of the worldwide slump, with computer giant Intel announcing up to 200 voluntary redundancies at its Leixlip plant yesterday.

The Taoiseach said the Government will be monitoring the economy on a quarter-by-quarter basis to ensure it weathers the storm.