Last week an already weakened dollar slumped close to an all-time low, sending jitters throughout Europe. But what economic repercussions does Ireland face in the wake of the greenback's latest plunge?

The US is the State's largest export market, which leaves Irish exporters particularly vulnerable to such currency fluctuations. However, John Whelan, chief executive of the Irish Exporters Association (IEA), says that the outlook is not all gloom and doom - yet.

According to a recent IEA survey, 20 per cent of US buyers are now prepared to deal in euro, and Mr Whelan has noticed that the euro is now being accepted as a "stable international trading currency".

This has eased the pressure on exporters somewhat, he says.

The impact of the latest drop in the dollar will not be felt immediately as the vast majority of exporters hedge forward, he said.Therefore if this is a "short spurt", exporters will be able to ride out the storm. If, however, the weakness of the dollar is sustained into the longer-term, Mr Whelan predicts exporters' bottom line will "take a hit".

They will be faced with the choice of increasing their prices and risk losing business, or holding prices steady and seeing their profits vanish, he said. "We're hoping at the moment that this blip will not sustain," he added.

On the upside, the US is the State's third largest source of imports, which counteracts the negative impact to a certain extent. Another positive effect, Mr Whelan said, is that a weak dollar holds down fuel prices.

Davy economist Rossa White predicts that the effect on exporters will be smaller than expected.

Mr White said that roughly 75 per cent of Ireland's exports are carried out by multinationals, which are mostly priced in dollars, and so they will not be significantly impacted.

In addition to the export industry, Irish corporations with significant US revenue are expected to feel the pinch.

From an Irish perspective, construction giant CRH has the greatest exposure to these currency movements, according to Goodbody equity analyst Peter Gunn, as roughly 55 per cent of its operating profits are generated in the US.

The impact of the weak dollar kicks in when the group repatriates US profits, net of tax and interest.

Waterford Wedgwood is also particularly vulnerable to movements in the dollar, according to Stuart Draper, head of research at Dolmen Securities, as a large proportion of the group's revenue is from the US.

Unlike CRH, which can deduct US costs before repatriating net US income, Waterford Wedgwood incurs most of its costs in euro, and so its profits are being squeezed by economic as well as translation costs, Mr Draper explains.

Ireland's tourism industry has finally managed to restore its popularity with North American visitors to pre-2000 levels. But how will it weather the latest currency blip?

A spokeswoman for Tourism Ireland predicted that the industry would not be affected "too badly", unless the dollar remained weak relative to the euro into the medium term.

She added that Ireland was "punching above its weight" compared to its European counterparts in terms of attracting US tourists.

John Power, chief executive of the Irish Hotels Federation, says this latest currency fluctuation makes it "even more important for us to stay competitive".

Mr Power says that there has been no feedback from the industry to suggest that the exchange rate is an issue yet.