dublin march 1 reuters  annual irish inflation ticked back up to 8 in february from 75 a month earlier according to a flash estimate of the eus harmonised index of consumer prices hicp irelands central statistics office cso said on wednesday consumer prices were 14 higher monthonmonth the cso added after food prices rose by an estimated 12 and energy prices fell by 02 on a monthly basis excluding energy the hicp is estimated to have grown by 58 since february 2022 the cso said finance minister michael mcgrath said last week that he expected irish inflation to average between 4 and 5 across 2023 lower than the 71 his department most recently forecast last september eurostat will publish flash estimates of inflation for the euro zone as a whole on thursday