Official figures show a strong increase in the volume of industrial production in May compared with the same month a year earlier.
The Central Statistics Office said production in May was 9.5% higher than in May 2009, with pharmaceutical production showing the biggest increase.
The modern sector - which includes high technology and chemicals - was up 13.9% from a year earlier, but the traditional sector showed a 0.8% drop.
For the three months from March to May, production was up 3.2% compared with the previous three months.
