Dublin insolvency specialist Pearse Farrell of accounting firm Farrell Grant Sparks has been appointed as interim examiner at the Corkbased firm. Directors Paul and Frank Burke and Tim O'Hearn have sought the High Court's protection through the examinership process in order to try to protect the remaining jobs at the company. Farrell is expected to be confirmed as examiner following a hearing in the High Court in Dublin tomorrow.

Ire Tex's woes began when it lost a major packaging contract from PC maker Dell's Limerickbased manufacturing facility.

It is understood Dell wanted to replace the polyurethane foam provided by Ire Tex with a different packaging material.

The contract accounted for up to 70% of Ire Tex's business, according to sources close to the company, and 43 Ire Tex employees were stationed at Dell's Limerick facility to handle the contract. Ire Tex is seeking 80 redundancies at present, including the 43 positions in Limerick, and is currently negotiating with unions on the issue.

The company has sustained losses in recent years.

In 2004, the most recent period for which accounts have been filed at the Companies' Office, it lost Euro3.2m on turnover of Euro16m.

The loss of the Dell contract last month which sources described as happening "at very short notice" pushed the company to the brink of collapse and the directors made the decision to seek the appointment of an examiner to give them time to restructure its debts and try to ensure survival for the remaining employees.