Overseas visitors to Ireland are up 9%

The number of overseas visitors coming to Ireland is on the rise.

Latest figures from the CSO show almost 3.9 million visitors came in the first half of this year - representing a boost of almost €2bn for the Irish economy.

Tourism Ireland says the results are significant.

Its Chief Executive is Niall Gibbons and he is very pleased with the results: "Today’s CSO figures are really strong, confirming that revenue from overseas visitors to Ireland grew by +9% in the first six months of 2016, to €1.93 billion – an additional €165 million for the Irish economy compared with H1 in 2015.

"Total overseas visitors grew by +11%, to 3.9 million – almost 400,000 additional visitors. Holiday visitors grew by +12%; and revenue from holidaymakers grew by +9%."