Ireland, Republic of

G

5

Recreation

St Patrick’s Day, March 17, is Ireland’s most important national holiday. The national sports are hurling, camogie, and Gaelic football. Association football is also popular. Horse racing is a highly popular spectator sport throughout the republic and Ireland is famed as a horse-breeding centre.

IV

Economy

Ireland’s GNP (World Bank estimate) was US$139,567 million in 2004, equivalent to US$41,140 per capita. Once viewed as one of the less-developed economies of Europe, Ireland today is one of its fastest growing. Real gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 3.5 per cent a year during the 1980s, and the rate of increase was 6.7 per cent in 1994.

The economy of Ireland was traditionally agricultural. Since the mid-1950s, however, the country’s industrial base has expanded greatly. Manufactured exports accounted for 85 per cent of total exports in 2004, including electronics exports, which account for some 25 per cent of the total. The industrial sector accounted for approximately 41 per cent of GDP in 2003, compared with only about 2.7 per cent for agriculture (2003 figure). The service sector is, however, the dominant sector today. In 2005 it employed 66 per cent of the workforce and contributed about 56 per cent of GDP. The sector includes tourism and the financial services sectors, which have both expanded greatly, as well as wholesale and retail trade, and public services like health and education. The economy is mixed, with a large private sector and a contracting public sector. The annual budget figures for 2005 showed approximately US$61,110 million in revenue and US$64,088 million in expenditure.

A

Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing

The agricultural sector has been largely modernized in the past 30 years, and is now highly efficient. Only about 10 per cent of the working population is employed in the sector, and this percentage is declining and ageing as a result of mechanization and continuing rural migration. In the early 1990s more than 50 per cent of farmers were more than 50 years of age. Most farms are family farms. Almost 65 per cent of the total area of the republic is devoted to pasture, cropland, or mountain grazing. Animal husbandry is the most important sector economically, but farms are generally mixed—growing some crops as well as raising animals. Beef-farming tends to predominate in the central lowlands, with dairying dominant in the south. Pig-rearing is also important. Arable farming is important in the east and south-east. Sheep are most commonly grazed on the rough mountain pastures. Ireland is a thriving centre of the world bloodstock (thoroughbred horse) industry; many notable racehorses have been bred in the country.

In 2005 livestock included: 6.89 million cattle, 4.56 million sheep, 1.68 million pigs, around 70,000 horses and ponies, and around 14.6 million poultry. The principal field crops are barley (1 million tonnes, 2005), sugar beet (2 million tonnes), wheat (723,000 tonnes), and potatoes (500,000 tonnes). Among other important crops are hay, turnips, and oats. The best farmland is found in the east and south-east. Ireland has benefited from the EU Common Agricultural Policy, which has supplied support funds. The money has been used to modernize farming methods and machinery.

The government of Ireland has undertaken extensive reforestation schemes in an effort to reduce the country’s dependence on timber imports and to provide raw material for new paper mills and related industries. In the early 1990s forests occupied nearly 7 per cent of Ireland’s total area, of which some 80 per cent belonged to Coillte Teoranta, the state forestry company. Roundwood production in 1996 was more than 2.65 million cu m (93.5 million cu ft).

The waters around Ireland are excellent fishing grounds. The fishing industry, traditionally underdeveloped, has been expanding in recent years. The sea fish catch in 2004 was 338,588 tonnes. Deep-sea catches include herring, cod, mackerel, whiting, and plaice. Crustaceans, particularly lobsters, crayfish, and prawns, and such molluscs as oysters and periwinkles, are plentiful in coastal waters, and form the bulk of the country’s seafood exports. Some 39,775 tonnes of shellfish were caught in 1995. The inland rivers and lakes provide excellent fishing for salmon, trout, eel, and several varieties of coarse fish.

B

Mining

Although mining plays a relatively minor role in the Irish economy, discoveries of new deposits in recent decades have led to a considerable expansion of mineral production. Mineral output in 2004 included 438,000 tonnes of zinc, 65,000 tonnes of lead, and 20 tonnes of silver. Ireland is one of the leading exporters of lead and zinc in Europe; most production comes from a large mine near Navan. An aluminium plant was established in County Limerick in 1983, processing imported bauxite.

C

Manufacturing

Since 1960 there has been an active policy to encourage foreign investment in industry, through tax and other incentives, and to create jobs. Since 1973 more than 40,000 new jobs have been created, mainly in high-tech, highly mechanized enterprises. The United States is the main foreign investor, followed by the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan. Ireland has diversified its manufacturing (most of it has developed since 1930). Among the food-processing industries, the most important are meat-packing, brewing and distilling, grain-milling, sugar-refining, and the manufacture of dairy products, margarine, confections, and jam. Other important manufactured articles include office machinery and data-processing equipment; electrical machinery; electronic equipment; tobacco products; woollen and worsted goods; clothing; cement; furniture; soap; candles; building materials; footwear; cotton, rayon, and linen textiles; hosiery; paper; leather; machinery; refined petroleum; transport equipment; and chemicals.