AS THE 2009 edition of The Irish Times’ Top 1000 companies goes to print, there are increasing grounds for optimism that the worst period of sustained economic decline in living memory has bottomed.

The argument for being optimistic about the Irish economy is less compelling than that pertaining to the global economy, but it is there nonetheless.

The rate of decline in a number of key indicators of the economy’s health, ranging from consumer confidence to activity in the services sector, has abated. Equally importantly, there are signs that the Government has finally got a grip on the national finances, albeit only after drastic action. A solution to the banking crisis has been put forward and is being pursued with some urgency.

The Top 1,000 list confirms what is already widely acknowledged, which is that if these tentative green shoots are to turn into a fully-fledged recovery it will be led by a sustained pick up in exports, with multinational firms in the vanguard.

Multinational firms, the majority of them US-owned, continue to dominate the upper echelons of the list, accounting for around one in three of the top 120 companies by turnover. They in turn are focused in areas such as technology and pharmaceuticals.

Many of larger Irish firms on the list are by contrast focused heavily ion the domestic market and include the various semi-state behemoths and retailers. But there are also many Irish based and managed firms of scale that operate in the international sphere, not least CRH which once again tops the list.

The clear challenge for the Government in the coming years is to focus on helping indigenous export-orientated firms currently in the bottom half of the list grow their business. But in the short term the issue remains one of survival and many firms have been left to fend for themselves as the Government grapples with the immediate priorities of stabilising the banking system and the national exchequer.

But with signs that progress is being made in these two areas must come a shift in focus to ensure that the money poured into the banks results in credit for the those business that deserve it and are capable of creating employment.

Equally, what scarce resources there are should be deployed to ensure Ireland remains an attractive location for mobile international capital, both in areas that have proved fruitful in the past and in those that have been indentified as offering future potential.