TIME was when a new industrial project offering a few hundred jobs would be trumpeted in the headlines. Not any more. Such has been the pace of jobs announcements this year that a project offering anything less than 500 jobs generates little excitement, while only the 1,000 plus bumper projects create a stir.

1996 was already shaping up as a record year for jobs when earlier this month the Minister for Enterprise and Employment, Mr Bruton and IDA Ireland boss, Mr Kieran McGowan landed the biggest catch for years. The 2,850 jobs promised by IBM for Mulhuddart in west Dublin is important not only because of the jobs it will create directly, but also because it is a huge boost to the whole strategy of attracting inward investment.

The only problem now for IDA Ireland is meeting expectations by announcing some more big projects next year. And the word is that there are already some significant offerings on the way in January and February.

Sadly, there have been some big industrial closures this year, notably Semperit and Packard Electric. But the overall trend in employment has been upwards. In October, the Central Statistics Office announced that the latest employment survey had shown the number of people in work had risen by 45,000 in the year to last April.

Over the last three years of the Programme for Competitiveness and Work, employment in the economy had risen by 130,000, or over 10 per cent - more than the cumulative increase over the previous 10 years.

These figures put Ireland right at the top of the international job creation league. It is a welcome change from the 1980s, when the Irish phenomenon of "jobless growth" was much discussed by economists.

For many years the economy recorded respectable looking economic growth rates, but employment remained static. But this has changed in recent years. Growth has accelerated - the rise in Gross National Product (GNP) has been 6 to 7 per cent on average over the past few years - and employment has surged ahead.

It is the broadly based nature of economic growth in recent years which has contributed to rising employment. In the mid 1980s, what growth there was tended to come from multinational exports. This led to some increase in employment in this sector, but more often than not this was offset by declines elsewhere.

Now things are different, and all sectors of the economy are firing on all cylinders. Both multinational and indigenous industry are booming, investment is bouyant and consumer spending is at last following. Car sales have been rising sharply for a couple of years and it looks like the retail takings over the Christmas New Year period will break all records. Conspicuous consumption is back in fashion.

There are now 1.284 million people at work in the economy, up from a little over 1.1 million at the start of the 1990s. Much of the growth has, of course, been accounted for by a rise in part time work. This, in turn, has attracted many married women who had left the jobs market back into work. Also, net emigration has fallen sharply. But the rise in employment is still strong by the standards of Irish economic history and what is happening elsewhere in the world.

What is the secret of Ireland's success? The story is not straightforward. But a range of factors have come together to lead to an unprecedented surge in economic performance. What is hard to gauge is how much of this is due to a once off improvement in the productivity of the economy and how much is a shorter term growth cycle.

Among the factors which have contributed to the strong growth rates and the rise in employment are:

. The continued strong inflow of EU funding. This has, for example, vastly improved the road network around the west side of Dublin, helping its development as an industrial centre. EU social funds have supported education and training which has improved workforce productivity.

. Overall economic stability. Since the currency crisis of 1992/93, economic conditions have been remarkably stable. The rate of inflation has been generally low and interest rates have not varied much. This has encouraged businesses to plan investment projects and consumers to spend. The PCW has also ensured a generally calm industrial relations climate.

. The continued inflow of industrial projects from overseas has boosted the construction industry and led to new jobs coming on stream regularly, particularly in computers and teleservices.

. The competitiveness of indigenous industry has improved. Forbairt, the state agency which assists Irish owned firms, estimates that firms in its sector increased sales by 8 per cent to £13.5 billion, leading to a 4,700 rise in total employment.

. Some growth in export markets. Ireland's overseas markets have been mixed enough over the last few years, but there has been some growth in Britain and the Continental EU states economies have been recovering gradually. Growth in the US has been quite buoyant in some areas. Currency swings have led to gains and losses for exporters; the main threat towards the end of the year to exporters came from the strength of the pound against continental EU currencies such as the deutschmark.

Most forecasters expect that these factors will continue to lead to buoyant growth over the next year to 18 months, albeit not at the pace seen over the past year or so. Predictions are generally for GNP growth of a healthy 5 per cent or more in 1997, driven by the same forces as have been pushing the economy forward over the past couple of years.

Are there any clouds on the horizon? The main risk appears to be that the economy starts to "overheat", leading to a pick up in the rate of inflation. This would be of great concern to the Central Bank as next year's inflation rate counts towards qualification for the single currency. But it is not clear what the Bank could do about it. They could certainly try to push up short term interest rates but, with the move to monetary union tending to put a downward bias on Irish rates, the Bank might be fighting against market trends.

This risk aside', next year should be another strong one for jobs, as least for those leaving school or with the necessary skills. Recent ESRI research has also shown that the strong growth in the economy has had some impact on the number of long term jobless. However, a large percentage of the long term unemployed are effectively excluded from the jobs market.

Can Ireland continue to outperform in job creation over the longer term? There are certainly dangers ahead. The new national agreement locks in public and private sector employers to wage rounds which appear to leave little room for flexibility.

In effect the social partners have divided up the fruits of economic growth which they hope will continue. But if the economy slows, the danger is that the burden of adjustment will fall on the jobs market.

Flexibility is all the more important as Ireland heads towards an entire new economic environment monetary union. Continuing the recent jobs performance will be no easy task inside the single currency.