evidence: The Irish economy grew by a better-than-expected 12.2 per cent last year despite a severe cost-of-living squeeze and a significant slowdown in the global economy. This was significantly ahead of Government forecasts and made Ireland the fastest growing economy in Europe once again. The figures show GDP, the standard measure of growth, grew by an estimated 3.5 per cent in Ireland in the final three months of last year compared with the previous quarter.