Punchestown Enterprises has secured a judgment against a promotions company that had hired the Kildare racecourse for an air spectacular that was cancelled.
The €16,000 judgment by Punchestown was secured against Mecom Media, which had hoped to launch Airshow 100 to celebrate the centenary of Irish aviation.
The event was to have featured Britain’s Red Arrows aerobatic team and had hoped to attract 70,000 people over two days in June last year.
The plug was pulled by John McDonald, one of its promoters, after the Red Arrows withdrew following an accident on Crete three months before the event.
Aviation Event Management, the event’s co-promoter, had unsuccessfully argued that it should continue despite the Red Arrows’ withdrawal as planes from Switzerland, America, Italy, and Ireland, were all committed to perform.
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Airshow 100 had secured planning permission from Kildare county council, despite objections from local stud farms.
“There is a contractual dispute between Punchestown and Mecon Media, a judgment has been obtained,” Liam Holton of Punchestown, said in a statement. “We are very disappointed that despite numerous attempts to resolve the dispute, the matter remains unresolved [until it has received the money].” He declined to comment further.
McDonald runs other events including Toys 4 Big Boys through a different company called Mediateam.