Prominent Architectural Firm Closes

One of Ireland's best-known architectural firms Murray Ó Laoire has gone into liquidation, with the loss of more than 120 jobs, The Irish Times reported. The company cited cumulative bad debts, the difficult market and problems in getting paid on time for the collapse of the business. Murray Ó Laoire has offices in Dublin, Limerick, Cork, Slovakia, Russia, Germany, Libya, Barbados and Abu Dhabi. The company employs 127 people, with the majority of its staff based in Ireland. All offices will be shut as the firm goes into liquidation, including its design and the international subsidiaries. A creditors' meeting will be held in the coming days. The firm was involved in a number of high profile projects in Ireland, including Thomond Park Stadium, the CIT Cork School of Music and the Green Building in Temple Bar, Dublin. It was also selected as the preferred candidate to design the €750 million new Children’s Hospital of Ireland as part of a consortium with Brian O’Connell and NBBJ. The contract was announced in October 2009, and the hospital was due to open in 2014. Read more.