http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/06/27/uk-ireland-gdp-idUKBRE95Q0EK20130627
(Reuters) - Ireland's economy slipped back into recession as 2012 growth was revised sharply lower, indicating the bailed out euro member's recovery from financial crisis will be much slower than previously thought.
Ireland has made a limited return to bond markets and is one of few euro zone countries to have managed to eke out mild growth. But with one of the highest budget deficits in Europe, it still faces more harsh spending cuts and tax hikes.
Gross domestic product (GDP) shrank 0.6 percent in the first quarter from the previous three months. After revised data on Thursday showed quarterly shrinkage of 0.2 percent in the fourth quarter, Ireland now has had three successive quarters of contraction and is back in recession for the first time since 2009.
Overall the economy grew by just 0.2 percent last year, rather than the 0.9 percent initially thought, and the export-led recovery stalled in the second half of 2012 due to the slowdown in much of the rest of the euro zone.
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