The number of visitors travelling to Ireland fell by 3 per cent in the last three months of 2011 as turmoil in the global economy affected tourism, new figures show.
But although figures slumped in the final quarter of the year, there were more visits made to Ireland last year than in 2010.
The Central Statistics Office said there were 44,600 fewer trips to the country made by overseas visitors in the quarter compared with a year earlier. Just under 1.37 million visits were made over the period.