• The number of manufacturing businesses is low. Instead, the trend is to import and distribute goods that have been sourced in low cost economies.


• Freed from capital intensive manufacturing, firms have more time and money for research into creating new and better products.


• The business services sector is booming, in part because Ireland has become a prime location to outsource services to.


• Construction is thriving, and craftspeople and tradespeople are finding opportunity.

"Delaney said changing lifestyles and increased wealth have created new business opportunities. 'People see ideas all around them and create a new market for something which was lying idle,' he said, adding that garden centres and DIY shops have mushroomed as more people socialise at home and use their garden as an extension of the living area. 'It's an area where there's a lot of innovation and product development,' said Delaney. 'In the past, we wouldn't have thought of having outside gas lights on a decking because nobody would have put decking down.'"