Dunnes Stores to fight 'winding up' case brought by Holtglen

Dunnes Stores employs 18,000 people and operates over 150 shops across the UK, Ireland and Spain

An application for the winding up of the Irish chain store, Dunnes Stores, is due to be heard at the Commercial Court in Dublin next month

The firm making the application, Holtglen, is in dispute with the chain over payments for a shopping centre.

Dunnes was to be the anchor tenant of the new Ferrybank Shopping Centre in County Kilkenny, but decided not to get involved in the project.

In response to the application, Dunnes said their firm was "robustly solvent".

However, Holtglen claims it is owed 21m euros (£17m) for building works on the centre.

On Monday, lawyers for Holtglen went to the Commercial Court in an attempt to advance their case.

The matter will be fast-tracked and is due come back before the court next month.

Dunnes Stores was founded in 1944 by County Down-born draper, Ben Dunne Sr.

The Rostrevor native opened his first clothing store in Cork in 1944.

The company now employs 18,000 people and operates over 155 stores across Ireland, the UK and Spain.