中最重要的是在米斯郡的纳凡发现了锌、铅矿藏。有了纳凡矿的产量，现在爱尔兰是欧洲最大的铅和锌生产国。除金属外，国家的矿产资源还包括所谓的工业矿物：如重晶石、磷酸盐和石膏等。大多数铜矿和银矿已关闭。爱尔兰有八个煤区，但只有三个在开发。煤的产量在1957年达到高峰，为240，000吨，但此后已减少到每年75，000吨。
4. Energy 能源
While Ireland lacks sizable 大规模oil deposits石油储藏, it has a valuable energy source in the peat泥煤, or turf泥煤, bogs 沼泽that cover extensive areas of the country. Turf is considered as a solid fuel 固体燃料in Ireland. Currently目前 it produces 866,000 tons of oil equivalent等价物. Most of the peat is used to generate electricity. 发电 虽然爱尔兰缺乏有大规模的石油储藏，但在它覆盖全国广阔地区的沼泽里有极有价值的能源——泥煤。泥煤被视为爱尔兰的固体燃料。目前它的产量相当于866，000吨标准石油。大多数泥煤用于发电。
Ireland's total primary energy requirements 基本能源需求量in 1983 amounted to总计为 8 billion metric tons公吨 亿吨of oil equivalent, of which 38 % was produced from indigenous 本地sources. Ireland is still heavily dependent on imported oil, although the share of imported oil was reduced from 71% in 1979 to 49% in 1983. Gas now
provides 20% of total primary requirements, coal 12.5 % , peat 16 % and electricity 2.5 %. grown by 15% annually.
1983年爱尔兰总的基本能源需求量为80亿吨标准石油，其中38％由本地能源生产。爱尔兰仍严重依赖进口石油，尽管进口油的份额已从1979年的71％减少到1983年的49％。现在，天然气提供总基本需求量的20％，煤12．5％，泥煤16％，电2．5％。
Successive Irish governments have adopted a consistent and positive approach toward attracting overseas investment. Over 300 foreign firms set up manufacturing bases in Ireland from 1973 to 1983. The number of people employed by foreign-owned industries increased by over 19,000 during the same period, to 80,000. The new foreign firms now account for over 70 % of manufactured exports.
爱尔兰的劳动力估计为130．2万人，其中妇女占29．7％。参与率为42．2％。在主要行业就业的人中，97％是全日工。
5. Labour 劳动力
The Irish labour force is estimated at l. 302 million, of whom women constitute 29.7 %. The participation rate is 42.2 %. Of those employed in the main occupations, 97 % are full-time workers.
爱尔兰的劳动力估计为130．2万人，其中妇女占29．7％。参与率为42．2％。’在主要行业就业的人中，97％是全日工。
Unemployment is a chronic 长期的problem in Ireland. It is seen by both the government and the trade unions工会 as the country's most serious economic problem. The unemployment rate rose from 17% in 1985 to 19.2% in 1991. Ireland has the highest unemployment rate in the EC. The young have been particularly hard hit打击, 在年轻人中尤其严重with those under 25 making up one-third of the unemployed. Unemployment is now lasting much longer than earlier. About 40% have been unemployed for over one year compared to 25 % in 1976. The reasons for this phenomenon are as follows:
失业是爱尔兰的一个长期问题。政府和工会都把失业视为国家最严重的经济问题。失业率从1985年的17％上升至1991年的19．2％。在欧共体中爱尔兰的失业率最高，在年轻人中尤其严重，25岁以下者占失业人口的三分之一。与1976年的25％相比，约有40％的人失业一年以上。这种现象产生的原因如下：
(1) Ireland has a relatively young population--one of the youngest in Europe.
(2) Agricultural employment is declining.
(3) Public sector employment is being reduced for budgetary预算 reasons.
(4) Most of the new hi-tech industries are not labour-intensive.
(1)爱尔兰人口相对年轻——欧洲最年轻的国家之一。 (2)农业就业在衰减。
(3)因预算原因公共部门的就业在减少。
(4)大多数高新技术产业不是劳动密集型产业。
Irish trade unionism has a close association with the labour movement in Great Britain. In the mid-1980s there were 82 trade unions in Ireland, of which 31 were headquartered in England. Although Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are separate political entities, 政治实体unions, like churches, are organized on an all-lreland basis. 以全爱尔兰为基础 The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), 爱尔兰工会大会 founded in 1959, is the principal coordinating body协调机构 for trade union activity in Ireland and, to a lesser degree, in Northern Ireland as well.
爱尔兰的工会运动与大不列颠的工人运动有密切联系。20世纪60年代中期爱尔兰有82个工会，其中31个工会总部在英格兰。尽管北爱尔兰和爱尔兰共和国是不相干的政治实体，但是如同教会一样，工会组织以全爱尔兰为基础。成立于1959年的爱尔兰工会大会是工会活动的主要协调机构，它也是小程度上北爱尔兰的协调机构。
Strikes have plagued折磨 Irish industry for years. Most strikes are unofficial, 非官方的but more time is lost in official strikes. In workdays
lost, 损失劳动日方面 Ireland is second only to Italy in the EC. The standard workday is eight hours and the standard workweek is 40 hours. However, the actual hours worked per week are the highest in the EC, at 46.6 hours. Workers enjoy a twoday weekend两天周末 but fewer leave days and holiday time than their counterparts相对应的人in other EC countries.
数年来爱尔兰工业深受罢工的折磨。大多数罢工是非官方的，但在官方罢工中失去的时间更多。在因罢工而损失劳动日方面，爱尔兰在欧共体中仅次于意大利。爱尔兰标准工作日是八小时，标准周工作时间是40小时。但是在欧共体国家中，爱尔兰工人实际的周工作时间最高达46．6小时。工人享受两天周末，但请假日和假期比欧共体国家的要少。
6. Foreign trade 对外贸易
Ireland is now an industrial exporter. Since the 1950s, exports have increased not only in value and volume数量 but also in sophistication 复杂性and diversification. 多样化 Traditional manufactures, 传统制造业 such as handicrafts, 手工艺品 processed foods and drink食品和饮料加工, clothing and fabrics 纺织have not lost their importance, but it is industrial products--chemicals and. medicines, electrical machinery, 电子机械 data processing equipment数据处理设备, scientific instruments, 科学仪器synthetic fibres合成纤维 and so