Economists said today they believe the worst is now over for the Irish economy.
New figures from the Central Statistics Office revealed stronger than expected growth for the second quarter of this year.
International economic prospects were also boosted by the strongest US quarterly economic expansion for almost 20 years.
However, the World Economic Forum has pointed put that Ireland is now the third least competitiveness country in the European Union.
Our ranking in terms of global competitiveness has slipped to 30th from 4th just three years ago.
