Limerick FC are on the brink of becoming the eighth SSE Airtricity League club to go out of business in the last decade.
The First Division club is now facing extinction after the examiner of Munster Football Club Ltd, Limerick's trading company, went to Ennis District Court today to have court protection removed.
That act brings the examinership process that started in September to an end.
The club owed close to €490,000 at the start of the process, and with a liquidator set to be appointed, only last minute investment can save the club now.
Limerick, who were docked 26 points last season to finish rock bottom of the second tier, have not been granted a League licence for the 2020 campaign.
A Shamrock Rovers 'B' side has been mooted as a possible newcomer into the First Division for next season.
But Limerick's crisis situation comes as a further body blow to football in Ireland in the wake of the FAI's dire financial revelations.
In a statement, the club said: "The examiner of the company behind Limerick FC today returned to the South Western Circuit Court in Ennis to remove Court protection spelling the end of an examinership process which has been on-going since September 2019.
"Conor Noone of Baker Tilly Chartered Accountants, told the Court that while an investor had been identified, that party did not engage with him in the manner required in recent weeks in order to firstly secure a licence for First Division football next season nor secondly the funding necessary for the formulation of a scheme of arrangement with Limerick’s creditors."
Conor Noone said: "Despite the progress made in developing a viable restructuring plan the company over the last 100 days, we are disappointed at the outcome reached today.
"Everything possible has been undertaken to secure the future of the company and to preserve employment at Limerick FC."
