Irish consumer sentiment fell for the fourth month in a row in October due to fears about looming spending cuts and tax hikes, a study showed on Tuesday. Concerns about the country's battered public finances, saddled with a bill of up to 50 billion euros ($70 billion) to bail out its banking system, helped push the KBC Ireland/ESRI Consumer Sentiment Index down to 48.1, the lowest in 17 months, from 52.4 in September.