An average of six firms went out of business per day during the first quarter of 2011, according to new statistics from InsolvencyJournal.ie.

The figures show that more than 33 firms closed up shop each week during the three-month period.

Overall, a total of 396 corporate insolvencies were recorded during the quarter, down from 409 for the same period a year earlier.

The quarter brought with it some high-profile insolvencies, such as the Sunday Tribune, Cash Flow Services, the Tallaght Plaza Hotel, the Heritage Hotel and Total Fitness.

The worse affected industry during the first quarter was construction, which accounted for over 28 per cent of all insolvencies. Retail and hospitality-related firms were also badly affected with the sectors accounting for a combined 28 per cent of insolvencies.

The number of retail-related insolvencies rose from 37 in the last quarter of 2010 to 54 in the first quarter of 2011. Hospitality-related insolvencies were up from just five in the last quarter of 2010 to 56 in the first three-months of this year.

“The trend in retail is worrying in that corporate retail insolvencies have increased significantly in the first quarter accounting for 14 per cent of the overall total of insolvencies," said Ken Fennell, a partner with KavannaghFennel, the firm which compiled the data."The increase in the first quarter total of hospitality failures is not surprising bearing in mind the continued downward pressure on pricing and lack of consumer confidence."

Dublin recorded the highest number of corporate failures in the first three months of the year with 139 insolvencies, or 35 per cent of the national total while Cork recorded the second highest number with 35 insolvencies, equivalent to 9 per cent of the total.

Creditors’ voluntary liquidations accounted for 77 per cent of all insolvencies for the first quarter while court liquidations accounted for just 7 per cent.

The first quarter of 2011 saw six applications for court protection granted by the High Court, accounting for 1 per cent of the overall total.

Receivership totals increased over 11 per cent from 52 to 58 when compared with the last quarter of 2010 and accounted for 15 per cent of failures in the first quarter of this year.

Mr Fennell also said there had been a significant increase in the number of personal asset receiverships for which there is no formal data available.