Irish Economy to recover in 2009

Dublin- The economy should experience a strong recovery in 2009 after the marked deceleration of this year, according to the latest economic commentary from AIB.
The bank - in its Irish Economic Update for February - says that the fundamentals of the Irish economy remain sound, so growth should pick up in 2009/2010 as the downturn in the housing market bottoms out and global growth improves.
AIB says that Ireland's economic performance remained 'impressive' in 2007, with real GDP estimated to have grown by 5.5% and employment up by 3.4%.