Financial: The Irish financials have coped well with competition and are benefiting from the growth in the economy. Stand-alone Internet banks have yet to prove a runaway success. Net yields of 4 per cent. Appear cheap but lack of faith in some quarters.

Construction: These stocks are favoured, big and small. CRH is top of the class with a good track record, geographical spread, and strong acquisitions policy. Smaller caps also doing well from the sector growth. Good earnings growth.

Telecoms: No guarantee that the big ex-monopolies that went through deregulation early on will provide high earnings. Technological advances placing huge pressure on companies to keep up. Serious casualties predicted in this race with massive money being spent on infrastructure. Increased competition and capacity. Hardware producers the preferred candidates, especially companies already well-placed in the market.

Technology: Watch out for vested interest advice. Very expensive, on huge multiples of earnings. First mover advantage may not mean much. Possible traditional players may move in and pick up pieces when this transitional phase is over. ISPs and dot.coms less attractive after numerous cautionary tales. Security-related infrastructure for the Internet a favoured area.