Why Germans from Kilkenny and Carlow are going bankrupt

The current and former directors of the Irish companies include a gallery of some of the well known personalities in Germany involved in everything from business, sport and politics to motivational speeches Irish Independent has established.

Pascal Verbracken and Cornelius Rieger are the owners of the law firm Rieger & Partner.

In Ireland, they have used Cyprus-based DPCE Consulting Europe Ltd and Ireland-based VR Bookkeeping Ltd to legally incorporate up to 30 companies in Carlow Town in recent years. Ireland has increasingly become a preferred destination for German nationals wishing to become insolvent, as the laws here are more debt-friendly than in their home country. You can also often go bankrupt here in front of the public at home. Insolvency secured in one EU country must be recognized in another EU member state.

That Irish Independent identified nearly 10 clients of law firm Rieger who were declared bankrupt in Ireland.

However, Mr. Rieger insisted on the majority of the Germans
Customers it supports in Ireland want to come, live and set up business here.

The dozens of companies set up by DPCE Consulting and VR Bookkeeping at an address on Tullow Street in Carlow Town list German directors with a residential address at the Ullard Holiday Home complex in Graiguenamanagh in Co Kilkenny.

The cottages were formerly owned by the late developer Liam Carroll, known as the ‘Shoebox King’ in reference to the large number of small apartments he built in Dublin in the 1990s.

Mr. Carroll had once planned to build a large hotel and conference center on the site. The properties were bought in a BidX auction in 2018 by a local businessman, it is said.

“Clients are calling us wanting to start a business in Ireland, want to live in Ireland and you know how difficult it is to find housing [in Ireland] from Germany,” said Mr. Rieger.

This article was modified on May 26, 2022