Happy St. Pat's! - Ireland is Growing at 5 Times the Pace of the Rest of Europe

It seems fitting that data released in Ireland just before St. Patrick’s Day revealed a strong economy that is far outpacing the rest of Europe.  In fact, as the graph below highlights, Ireland’s roughly 5 percent GDP growth in 2014 is almost five times that of the Eurozone average.  It’s been a long road back for Ireland since the collapse of an overheated housing market in 2008 which forced the country to concurrently seek an $85 billion bailout package from the E.U. and implement a series of harsh austerity measures.  The immediate impact was painful for the country, but now, with a much more diverse economy that is experiencing contributions from both net exports and domestic demand, the Irish economy looks to eclipse the prior peaks seen before the financial crisis.  While countries like Greece and Portugal may not be able to exactly replicate the Irish economy, it’s certainly not a bad roadmap to consider.

See the original article from Independent.ie here: