Growth in the country's services sector rebounded in May from its lowest in over two years in April as more companies secured new business.
Companies involved in the services sector appeared to brush off concerns that the UK would vote to quit the European Union, a survey showed today.
The Investec Purchasing Managers' Index of activity in services rose to 61.7 from 59.8 in April, climbing back towards the 64 it had reached at the start of the year.
That was the highest since June 2006, the height of the "Celtic Tiger" economic boom.
The index, which covers businesses from banks to hotels, has been above the 50 mark denoting growth for more than three years.
It slipped last month after some companies said that political instability at home and abroad had led to delays in getting contracts confirmed.
The uncertainty had also helped push the sub-index measuring new business to its lowest level in 26 months in April, but it rose to a four-month high of 62.4 for May, from 60.2.
New export orders also rebounded to their strongest level since January.
Today's survey suggested a divergence between services and manufacturers.
Manufacturing activity grew at the slowest rate in almost three years in May, according to a survey on Wednesday, as fears Britain would vote to leave the EU weighed on some companies more than others.
"All in all, this is a very positive report, which is just the tonic after a downbeat manufacturing PMI release earlier this week," said Philip O'Sullivan, chief economist at Investec Ireland.
"In any event, we expect to see stronger readings from both PMIs later this year, assuming our base case that UK voters choose to remain in the EU comes to pass," he added.
