Our previous research highlighted the strength of the Agricultural sector in Ireland and this trend has continued this year with 335 start-ups entering the industry and just 72 companies closing down.

This brings the number of companies trading as normal in the sector to 2,880, up almost 13% from the start of 2013.

The IT industry has also been performing strongly this year with 827 companies beginning to trade in that sector.

There are currently 8,943 companies trading normally in the IT sector, this figure is up 10% from the start of the year.

The professional services sector is the largest sector for new companies starting to trade in Ireland this year accounting for approximately 25% of all start-ups recorded.

So far this year the sector has grown from 38,217 companies at the start of this year to 40,647 - an increase of just over 6%.