The private company which runs the Rose of Tralee received over €113,000 from public bodies in sponsorship or grants last year.
The Rose of Tralee listed eight public bodies as sponsors for last year’s festival on its website – six of which contributed over €113,000 last year.
One of the remaining two public bodies, Kerry County Council, did not pay the company any of the €120,000 in sponsorship it allocated; instead, it directed that to the streets festival Féile Thrá Lí.
It comes as the company which owns and runs the festival, incurred a loss of over €50,000 for the financial year ending 31st March 2022, according to its most recent accounts.
The Rose of Tralee did not respond to queries from Radio Kerry.
Five county councils sponsored the 2023 Rose of Tralee Festival, as well as Fáilte Ireland, the Road Safety Authority, and RTÉ.
According to records released to Radio Kerry under FOI, Wexford County Council paid €25,000 in sponsorship for 2023.
Internal documents show the council’s tourism officer claimed sponsoring the 2022 event had a PR value for Wexford County Council of over €118,000.
Offaly, Meath, and Longford County Councils all contributed €12,000 in sponsorship, and all were stops along the Rose Tour in August last year.
The Road Safety Authority paid €25,000 to the company last year, with benefits including being an official Rose Tour partner and PR opportunities.
The company also received €27,500 from Fáilte Ireland in 2023 under the National Festival and Events Grant Scheme, as part of three-year funding awarded from 2023 to 2025 to assist with the ongoing recovery of the festival and events sector; there are restrictions attached for what this grant can be used.
RTÉ refused to release a copy of its licencing agreement with the Rose of Tralee in relation to the rights to broadcast its televised events.
RTÉ did say that there are no payments to staff or directors as part of this agreement, and it includes commercial elements such as rebroadcasting rights, and sponsorship such as exposure for RTÉ’s brand.
The company was also due to receive €120,000 from Kerry County Council last year, but this money was used to run Féile Thrá Lí.
The €120,000 for this year is again provisionally allocated for the streets festival rather than being paid to Kerry Rose Festival Ltd, which is likely to have an impact on the company’s income.
Kerry Rose Festival Ltd incurred a loss of over €50,000 for the financial year ending 31st March 2022, and had net liabilities over assets of €248,000, according to the company’s most recent accounts.
