The 'boom' is over but Ireland still racking up best growth in Europe

NOW the boom, as we knew it, is officially over. That's the message from the Central Statistics Office last week.

Relative to the fantastic rate of growth to which we were accustomed over the last nine years, growth in the second quarter of 2002 was modest, compared with the same period in 2001. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is up 6.5% in the second quarter, and Gross National Product (GNP) up 4%.

It looks like growth for all of 2002 will end up being in the 4% range, down from over 5% last year and double-digit figures during the big 'boom' years.