The 1996 Census found that the numbers employed in agriculture fell by 15 per cent over the five-year period from 1991 to 1996 while those employed in manufacturing rose by 14 per cent.

But the broad services sector showed the greatest employment growth of all.

The census revealed that the numbers working in the recreational services area rose by 60 per cent, those working in personal services increased by 39 per cent while the numbers working in insurance, finance and business services was up by 29 per cent. In occupational terms, the largest growth was among personal service and childcare workers whose numbers increased by 36,000.

There were also strong rises in those employed in sales where numbers jumped by 14,000 while managers and executives increased by 13,000 in number, those working in business and commerce rose by 12,000 and the number of clerical and office workers was up by 11,000.

Overall, the size of Ireland's labour force jumped by 11 per cent to 1.5 million in the five year period. The total at work was 1.307 million at the time of the census while unemployment stood at 227,000.

Donegal had the highest jobless rate at 22 per cent followed by the county borough areas of Limerick (21 per cent), Cork (21 per cent), Dublin (19 per cent) and Waterford (19 per cent).

The census also found that those driving a car to work represented 46 per cent of workers in 1996, up from 39 per cent five years earlier, while public transport users fell to 9 per cent from 11 per cent.