Thousands of Irish companies are struck off every year, and most of their directors learn what dissolution means only when something breaks: the bank freezes the account, the sale cannot close, the insurer queries the policyholder’s existence. Here is what actually happens — and why the at-risk population just grew.
Mary Molloy Solicitors are solicitors, not accountants or tax advisers. Nothing on this page is tax, accounting or financial advice — engage your accountant on those questions, and both advisers together where matters straddle the line. Company law procedures, CRO practice and filing deadlines change frequently, and reform of the law governing owners’ management companies and charities is ongoing; confirm the current position before acting on anything here.
Dissolution, Itemised
- Existence ends: the company cannot trade, contract, sue or defend — it is legally a ghost;
- Property vests in the State: land, balances, assets — no longer the company’s to deal with;
- The shield questions: those carrying on “the company’s” business post-dissolution do so without the corporate protection they assume;
- Directors’ records marked: involuntary strike-off for non-filing carries enforcement exposure and reads badly in every later assessment;
- Creditors unimpressed: claims are not extinguished — restoration exists precisely so they can proceed.
The Widening Net
Unfiled annual returns remain the classic route, but the Companies (Corporate Governance, Enforcement and Regulatory Provisions) Act 2024 added three grounds: failure to notify a registered-office change, no company secretary recorded, and failure to file beneficial ownership information with the RBO — the last with real reach, since a significant minority of companies never filed and enforcement has begun. Housekeeping that was once merely untidy is now a dissolution risk; the full 2024 Act picture is at the changes explained.
What To Do, in Order
Confirm status on the public register — dissolution date and ground. Stop compounding — no trading-as-usual, no asset dealings, nothing signed in the ghost’s name. Choose the restoration route the calendar allows: administrative through the CRO within 12 months; court thereafter, for up to 20 years; and for owners’ management companies, the special 6-year administrative window — the routes are walked in the restoration guide and, for OMCs, the OMC file. And if you are reading this before the strike-off — the notice arrived, the returns are behind — the cheapest fix on this page is compliance now: everything above is avoidable this week.
Struck Off - or Notice Received?
Bring the CRO printout. One call establishes the route, the requirements and how much worse waiting makes it.
Call 01 5827148Related Reading
Strike-Off - FAQs
About the Author
Richard O’Shea, Solicitor practises with Mary Molloy Solicitors (established 1981), advising company directors, shareholders, family businesses, owners’ management companies, clubs and charities across Ireland. Richard holds a Diploma in Mediation from the Law Society of Ireland — central to this work, where shareholder, family-company and apartment-block disputes are relationship disputes first, and where the MUD Act itself empowers the Circuit Court to direct parties to mediation. Contact Richard on 01 5827148 or richardoshea@marymolloysolicitors.com.
This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Every farm and family situation is different, and you should obtain advice on your own circumstances before acting. In contentious business, a solicitor may not calculate fees or other charges as a percentage or proportion of any award or settlement.