Barratts Shoes has gone into administration - leaving thousands of employees across Ireland and the UK at risk of losing their jobs.
This is the third time the high street chain has entered administration, having first gone under in 2009.
It has fifteen outlets in the Republic of Ireland.
Directors say they were left with no choice after an investor pulled out of a plan to inject almost €6 million into the company at the end of last week.
The administrators said they were seeking a sale of the business as a going concern, but added that redundancies and/or store closures can't be ruled out.
