New figures show that four companies a day went bust in the first seven months of the year.
Figures from InsolvencyJournal.ie reveal that the number of corporate failures so far this year has already exceeded the total for 2008 when 773 failures were recorded.
A total of 917 companies failed between January and July of this year, up 22% on the figure of 754 the same time last year.125 firms went bust in July - a slight reduction from the 132 companies going under in June.
'While there was a minor dip in insolvencies this month, the general perception is that there is a backlog of distressed cases and insolvencies are likely to increase during the second half of the year,' commented Tom Kavanagh, a partner with Kavanagh Fennell, who compile the figures.
Dublin saw the highest number of corporate collapses, with 373 companies going out of business for the year to date. Another 41 construction firms went bust last month, while 20 services firms collapsed. 18 retail companies failed, while 15 firms involved in the hospitality sector also failed.
A total of 277 construction companies have now gone out of business since the start of the year - 30% of the total. This is up 11% compared to last year when 249 insolvencies were recorded.
A number of high profile failures were also seen in the hotel sector last month, with a receiver appointed to Jim Mansfield's Citywest Hotel and Golf Club and Finnstown House, both in Dublin. ACC Bank and Anglo Irish Bank seized control of Heritage Golf Hotel and Spa and the Portlaoise Heritage Hotel, both in Co Laois. Receivers were also appointed to the Johnstown House Hotel and Spa in Enfield, Co Meath, the Killeshin Hotel in Portlaoise and the Moyvalley Hotel and golf course in Co Kildare.
Insolvencies in the motor trade are still higher than expected given the success of the Government scrappage scheme. Despite successive increases in sales, 28 companies in the trade went bust in the first seven months of 2010, only two less than the same time last year. Six went out of business last month.
