Creditors of one of the country's oldest and best-known international festivals, the Rose of Tralee, were yesterday being asked to accept 30 per cent of what they were owed.
The creditors include local media organisations, garages, performing artists and hotels. They are owed amounts ranging from hundreds of euro to €15,000 in one case, it is understood. Some may be owed substantially more.
One of the minor creditors asked to accept 30 per cent yesterday had been owed money for a number of years and had already written off the debt.
The festival, now in its 45th year and still attracting record television audiences, has been in the doldrums financially for some time.
Earlier this week representatives said reports that it was about to go into liquidation were without foundation. In all, debts of up to €1 million are being talked about, and much of the debt is historical.
Organisers have refused to comment on the size of the debts.
A spokesman yesterday said the position was the same as earlier in the week. However, he stressed that every effort was being made to protect the festival's creditors.
A liquidator had not been appointed, but all creditors were being contacted, and a full disclosure would be made after the annual general meeting next week.
In a statement earlier this week, the festival's chief executive, Ms Siobhan Hanley, and the festival president, Mr Con O'Connor, said they were confident that restructuring proposals would safeguard the Rose of Tralee.
They said it would be "not appropriate" to give further details, and no further comment would be made at this time.
The festival, which was initiated in 1959, has been allocated around €500,000 in Government funding since 2001, which includes a special allocation in the Budget last year of €320,000.
Until then it had relied entirely on corporate sponsorship and private donations.
Run largely by volunteers, the five-day festival is estimated to be worth at least €20 million to Tralee and costs an annual €1 million to run.
A Fáilte Ireland grant of €150,000, which was announced earlier this year, will not be paid until details of how the money is to be spent have been submitted.
Last year a strategic review of the event was started and new elements introduced.
A long-term strategy to ensure its future is being devised.
"As part of this process, the organisation has become aware of a financial legacy which now adversely affects the festival as a going concern," Ms Hanley said.