THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION president Jose Manuel Barroso has praised Ireland’s economic performance following a meeting with Taoiseach Enda Kenny in Brussels this morning.

The two leaders met for 45-minutes at a breakfast meeting in the Belgian capital ahead of a summit of the European Council and the heads of state of Eurozone countries to take place in just over a week’s time.

Barroso spoke afterwards to congratulate Enda Kenny’s government on its implementation of the EU/IMF bailout programme and said that the evidence had indicated it was paying off.

He told a press conference:

We have seen good, steady progress in implementation of the programme and there are clear signs that this paying off.

Interest rates have come down and growth has resumed.

Continued strong policy implementation remains essential especially in the current market conditions.

Kenny added that Ireland was headed in the right direction and that he hoped it could be an example for other countries caught up in the ongoing debt crisis in the Eurozone.

Watch a video of the Barroso/Kenny press conference here >