Signing Contracts with an Irish Company

Foreign investors who are interested to open a company in Ireland or who want to seal various agreements with companies with operations in the Irish territory should be very careful when signing contracts here, as the agreements give legal rights and obligations to both contracting parties. The contract is binding the parties to respects all the provisions stated in it and, as such, the breach of the contract (or the breach of a provision of the contract) will have legal effects that will be dealt with in an Irish Court. It is recommended to receive the legal advice of a lawyer when signing a contract with an Irish company; our law firm in Ireland can offer you assistance on this matter. 

 

 

The Companies Act 1963 states, under the Article 38, the legal forms of a contract signed on the behalf of a company. As such, the law stipulates that a contract signed by a company should be done in writing under the company’s seal. It is required that both parties to sign the agreement. In the situation in which one of the parties involved is not able to conclude the signing of the contract, he or she must appoint another person for this action. 

 

Under the Article 38, the Irish legislation stipulates that a contract with an Irish company can also be concluded in the oral form; however, this practice is rarely met now, as it is very hard to attest its validity. Our Irish lawyers can give you more details about this provision.

 

 

A contract signed in Ireland should contain several provisions, as stipulated by the Irish legislation. The contract is one of the main business tools used by companies to conduct various activities. 

 

As a general rule, a contract should always stipulate the following:

 

• the offer – is done by the person/legal entity, who will offer a certain service or product under several conditions; the offer becomes legally binding to the offeror after the contract is signed;

• the acceptance – is done by the other party involved in the contract; in some cases, the acceptance of the offer is concluded  after several rounds of negotiations;

• consideration of the offer – if the contract is done under seal, the consideration is no longer needed;

• contractual terms – are usually agreed upon between the two parties signing the contracts, but various contracts, such as the Sale of Goods and Supply contract, provide standard contractual terms, as stipulated by the European Union’s legislation;

 

If you need further information on the legislation available for signing a contract with an Irish company, please contact our law firm in Ireland for legal assistance.