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Dublin - A buoyant construction sector drove strong growth in Ireland's economy in the third quarter, putting the country on a sounder-than-expected footing as it emerges from an international bailout.
Gross domestic product expanded 1.5% year on year, data showed on Thursday, adding to signs of a pick-up with the jobless rate down to 12.5% from last year's 15.1% peak and property prices in Dublin on the rise.
Ireland became the first eurozone member to successfully complete a European Union/International Monetary Fund bailout programme last week.
It now requires growth to take hold if it is to meet a target of cutting its high debt pile by a quarter by the end of the decade.
Economists surveyed by Reuters had expected GDP to grow by 0.7% to expand for a second quarter in a row. Ireland emerged from its second recession in five years earlier in 2013.
"This certainly suggests that there is a good bit of momentum in the economy and that the consumer is slowly coming back," said Conall Mac Coille, chief economist at Davy Stockbrokers.
"Construction spending is up 15% on the year which is an extraordinarily large rate of expansion."
Ireland's trade-dependent economy continued to feel the effects of the downturn in Europe, with exports down by 0.8% quarter-on-quarter.
But the domestic economy is showing signs of revival with consumer spending bouncing back from a sharp contraction earlier in the year to grow 0.9% in the quarter.
