According to the latest figures, 849 Irish companies were dissolved in June 2011. Most of these companies were incorporated less than 10 years ago.

As you can see from the graph below, companies between 2 - 3.9 years old were most affected.

These results are in keeping with our previous findings when researching this issue which suggest that a company's age has a noticeable bearing on its ability to survive and continue trading.

In total, Companies under 10 years old made up 71% of

all dissolutions in June '11. The remaining 29% were aged over 10 years old - so while trading conditions for more recently formed companies are very challenging, the more established businesses are also experiencing difficulties.

Our analysis showed that, of the dissolved companies aged over 10 years old, 18% were 10 - 19.9 years old, 6% were 20 - 29.9 years old and the remainder were 30+ years old.