Oliver Mangan: All signs point to an Irish economic bounce

Despite much of the economy being in lockdown for all of the opening quarter of the year, recently released national account data for the period show  activity held up much better than expected

Forecasts for strong Irish economic growth, both this year and next, don't seem overly optimistic.

A clear picture is now emerging of the performance of the Irish economy in the opening half of 2021.

There are two distinct phases, but with data surprising to the upside in both as the pace of economic activity exceeds expectations.