New figures show a sharp rise in the number of court-ordered company liquidations last month.
This type of liquidation happens when an individual makes a petition to the courts to have a company wound up. Business information agency Vision-net.ie said that the number of court-ordered liquidations in May was 50% higher than in the same month last year.
155 liquidators were appointed in May, compared with 190 in April, while there were 44 receiverships, down from 64 last month.
Vision-net also carried out credit rating stress tests on more than 13,000 private limited companies who have filed accounts in the past five weeks. It said its tests showed that more than half were now in the 'high-risk' category, and were showing signs consistent with business failure.
Meanwhile, there was a 40% annual drop in the number of people becoming a company director for the first time. Vision-net.ie managing director Christine Cullen said a lack of finance for people starting up businesses may be a factor in this drop.
