Irish economy returns to growth

The Irish economy grew by 1.3% in the first three months of the year, official figures have shown, following a 1.4% contraction at the end of 2010.

The Irish Republic's statistics office said the return to GDP growth was partly due to net exports, which were 20.6% higher than a year earlier.

But it said domestic demand was still weak, down by 3.1%.

The construction sector again showed large falls, contracting by 19% compared with the start of 2010.

Source: BBC.co.uk