Irish Fest Chief Dogged By Writs

The Dublin-based promoter behind the canceled Killarney Music Festival had a number of judgments made against his companies, according to the Irish Examiner.  

The Irish national daily paper says Darryl Downey had several judgements against Rag Lane Entertainment Ltd. and Jarash Ltd., the two companies in which he’s the director and sole shareholder.

Last year comedian and impressionist Mario Rosenstock won a euro 308,885 ($345,150) judgment against Downey, in 2011 the Irish Music Rights Organisation – which is responsible for collecting and distributing royalties – won a euro 141,901 ($158,749) against Rag Lane, and last November PA hire firm Mongey Systems was awarded euro 5,120 ($5,727) against Rag Lane.

The most recent accounts for Jarash Ltd. showed that the company had losses of euro 344,982 ($385,804) for the year ending Sept. 30.

The Killarney Music Festival was reportedly canceled due to poor ticket sales.

The event had already downsized from the 36,000-capacity Killarney National Park to the 6,000-capacity Killarney Racecourse.

The Examiner claims local sources are suggesting ticket sales for the two-day festival were at about 2,500. More than 70 acts were to play, including Duran Duran, The Stunning, Texas, Jools Holland, ABC, The Undertones, Walking On Cars, Father John Misty, and The Proclaimers.