Belfast pubco in administration

A west Belfast based pub company that has a chain of pubs in the city has gone into administration.

Castle Street Inns owns six bars, which are leased to other operators and continuing to trade.

It has been reported that the company had come under pressure from Anglo Irish Bank in recent months and the Bank of Scotland Ireland (BoSI) held a number of mortgages in relation to the bars.

A property company under the same ownership, Kinturk Properties, was placed into receivership by BoSI in November.

Chief executive of Pubs of Ulster Colin Neil warned that Northern Ireland will lose between 100 and 150 pubs this year.

"During the three weeks before Christmas, the economic climate was very poor," he told the Belfast Telegraph.

"Normally these firms build up a cash flow to keep them going through the difficult, quiet times of January, February and March.

"This is very unfortunate news coming from a pub group that has been an integral part of the local community in Belfast and we hope that they can trade themselves out of this situation."