Formation Basics

Our Basic Guide to Forming a Company

Before you can begin registration you'll need to decide on the following...

Your Company Name
What are you going to call your company? You can have (almost) any name you like as long as nobody else has already registered a company with the same name. To protect your name (and avoid confusion) the Companies Registration Office (CRO) won't allow you to incorporate a company with a name that they deem similar to an existing name. This protects everybody-including you but it should be noted that this is not the same as a trademark. Also, your business name can be appealed as being too similar to an existing name up to 6 months after incorporation.

Directors and Secretary
Every company must have at least two directors, one of which may also act as the Company Secretary. Directors are the people who are appointed to run and manage the day to day affairs of the company. They may or may not be shareholders.

At least one director must be a resident of the European Economic Area (EEA), otherwise a bond must be supplied.

Shareholders
Shareholders are the people who own the company. They can also be the directors.

Business Location
You need three addresses which can all be the same if you wish. You need to set out a Registered Address, a Place of Business and an Address of Central Administration.

Main Activity
What specifically does your company do? This must be outlined in the documents called the Memorandum & Articles of Association and on the CRO application. The CRO will ask you to put a NACE classification code on your main activity also.

For further information on the above & more detailed information on the overall process of Irish company formation, see our Advanced Company Formation FAQ