The number of solicitors applying to practise in Ireland has more than doubled since the UK voted to leave the European Union, the Gazette has learned.

A total of 400 England and Wales-based solicitors have now signed up to practise in Ireland, up from 186 in the days leading up to June’s vote.

A spokesperson for the Law Society of Ireland told the Gazette that of the 400 solicitors admitted to the Irish Roll of Solicitors, 89 have since taken out a practising certificate.

In order to practise in Ireland, solicitors must obtain a practising certificate from the Law Society but need to be granted admission to the Roll of Solicitors before this can be done.

The Gazette first reported on the initial flurry of solicitors registering to practise in Ireland on 20 June — three days before the EU referendum.

Ken Murphy, director general of the Law Society of Ireland, said at the time that most of the solicitors were EU and competition law specialists making ‘contingency plans’ in the event of Brexit.

‘Of the EU member states, Ireland is the legal jurisdiction most equivalent to the UK. We are both English-speaking, both common law jurisdictions and our legal institutions are much the same,’ he said.

A spokesperson for the Law Society of Ireland said it hosted a meeting between the leaders of the Law Societies of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and England and Wales on 21 June, where it was agreed that ‘all four societies would work to maintain unaffected, to the maximum extent possible, their warm friendships and mutually beneficial co-operation, including ease of inter-jurisdictional transfers of solicitors, if the UK were to vote to leave the EU’.

In 2015 the total number of UK solicitors transferring to Ireland was 101, up from 51 in 2014.