In the three months to June 2001 there was a sharp rise in Irish companies collapsing, according to analysis by Dun & Bradstreet.

The business information provider found there were more than 240 company closures in Ireland from April to June 2001, almost 36 per cent ahead of the same quarter in 2000.

The level of closures is the highest in any three-month period since the end of 1999, when a high of 286 closures was recorded.

But the firm does not have a record of the total number of companies in the State so it is impossible to know if the percentage of closures is increasing.

Dun & Bradstreet managing director Mr Greg Connell said in a statement that despite the strength of economic growth, company closures have continued to hit new highs across all industry sectors. "It is not just the much publicised IT sector that is being hit."

But the company has no detail on which sectors are affected.

Company closures have increased significantly in recent years, up from 519 in 1997 to 771 in 2000. But the rate of increase may have been slowing. In 1998, there were 22 per cent more closures than 1997; they rose by 17 per cent in 1999 but by only 3 per cent last year.

The increase in the second quarter of this year follows a slowdown in the first quarter when closures of more than 190 were behind the comparable period in 2000 of 225.