Dublin  - Ireland's economy - which enjoyed an unprecedented boom in the last decade - is in recession after the gross domestic product fell for the second successive quarter, figures released from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) in Dublin showed Thursday.

GDP fell by 0.8 per cent in the second quarter of this year compared to the same quarter of 2007 after falling by 1.3 per cent in the first quarter compared to the first three months of 2007.

GDP fell by 1 per cent overall in the first six months of the year compared to last year.

Gross national product, which excludes earnings from multinational companies, fell by as much as 2.1 per cent in the second quarter after growing by 0.9 per cent in the first quarter.

Consumer spending was down by 1.4 per cent in the second quarter, while capital investment plummeted by 18.8 per cent.

"There were significant declines in house building as well as in the acquisition of transport equipment and machinery and equipment compared to the same period of last year," the CSO said. (dpa)