The downturn in the economy, particularly in construction and residential building, has been hurting all kinds of businesses financially, including the entrepreneurs taking part in RTE's Dragons' Den television programme, according to financial filings produced by some of the judges recently.

Sean Gallagher's Smarthomes has posted a significantly reduced operating profit of €105,115 at the end of 2007, an 80% drop from the previous year's figure of €533,100, its latest companies office records show. Gross profit increased from €2.6m in 2006 to €3.5m in 2007, but the company, which specialises in providing cabling for housing developments, was hurt by rising costs. It still had retained profits of €627,038 however.

Meanwhile, Niall O'Farrell, owner of dinner suit outfitter Blacktie, has endured a range of financial upsets recently. Some €20,000 in rent on the flagship Blacktie shop in Blackrock, Co Dublin, was reported recently to be outstanding, while a firm called M&P Construction has claimed it is owed €130,000 by another O'Farrell company.

O'Farrell's troubles have not been replicated so far for his fellow judge Bobby Kerr. Turnover at the Insomnia coffee chain, of which Kerr is CEO, rose from over €9m to €12m between the end of 2006 and the end of 2007.

But Insomnia's books for 2008/09 might tell a less happy story when they are revealed. In January of last year, Icelandic investor Penninn paid €12m for 51% of Insomnia. But then Penninn's Icelandic bank financer, Kaupthing, collapsed as that country's economy began to melt.

Recruiter HRM group, which dragon Gavin Duffy part-owns, will have felt the impact of a rising unemployment, which has doubled in just a year. Peer company Hays, Europe's biggest recruiter, has cut staff by 20% and CPL's shares have plummeted since the economy began to slide.

Balance sheet details on Duffy's business interests are scarce, but a property portfolio held jointly with his wife was worth €100m in 2007. This is likely to have depreciated sharply in value in line with the property slump.

Sarah Newman didn't part with any money in the den, while the other dragons each invested in excess of €100,000 in business hopefuls. Newman seems to have had a quiet year on the business front generally; her fledgling Newmac Equity has seen no registered activity to date, according to Companies Office records.

If any of the dragon's businesses were to take a serious nosedive, it would put paid to their television careers with the show, as it did for one British dragon.

Businesswoman Rachel Elnaugh had to leave the UK Dragons' Den panel when the company she founded went into administration in 2005 and the BBC took issue with having a 'failed' business dragon on the panel. Perhaps adding insult to injury, the company's assets were bought up by Peter Jones and Theo Paphitis, two of Elnaugh's fellow dragons.