Employers' group Ibec has forecast that the economy in Ireland will grow 6.5% this year driven in the main by strong exports.
However, in its latest Quarterly Economic Outlook, it also predicts that unemployment will remain high at 15.6% in 2021, falling to 9.3% next year.
The organisation thinks consumer spending will bounce back from negative territory last year to grow 6.4% this year. But it also forecasts that investment will continue to contract, falling by 21.8% in 2021 before rising by 8.8% next year. "The economy is set to emerge strongly from the Covid crisis," said Gerard Brady, Ibec chief economist. "The first half of 2021 has seen the export engine of Ireland’s economy continuing to fire and a level of normality is now returning