The High Court is being asked to appoint provisional liquidators to Mount Carmel hospital in South Dublin.

The petition is being made on an ex parte basis by the hospitalÂ’s directors.

The court has heard the private hospital which was founded in 1949 has been struggling since 2007 and is now completely insolvent.

It has survived in recent years with the support of Nama but it no longer has sufficient funds to meet its overheads.