Brexit threat looms large

The export sector is the lifeblood of the small open Irish economy and if this sector is doing well, then the whole economy tends to do well, writes Jim Power.

Of course, it is a bit of a misnomer to give it a single title, because the reality is that it is a very large and diverse sector that includes both goods and services; that varies from large multinationals to small indigenous companies and much in between; and which serves many different countries and different customers.

So far in 2017, the sector continues to do reasonably well, although growth has eased. In the first nine months of the year, the value of merchandise exports was 1.8% ahead of the same period in 2016.