Desmond’s concert firm receives ‘helping hand’ from Scotland

Denis Desmond, the concert promoter, has described a politically controversial £150,000 (€203,000) payment to one of his companies by the Scottish government as a "helping hand" towards the revenues of the T in the Park festival.

DF Concerts, in which Mr Desmond’s Gaiety Investments owns a stake, has been at the centre of a political storm in Scotland in recent days over the payment.

A Scottish politician said the payment was made in response to a threat by the shareholders of T in the Park to move it out of Scotland.

Relocation

Fiona Hyslop

, the Scottish culture secretary, told local parliamentarians the payment was given to DF Concerts, which is highly profitable, to prevent it scaling back the event, threatening local jobs.

Local opposition politicians have criticised the state aid to DF, which has made profits of more than £4.5 million in the last three years from the gig that is sponsored by Tennents, a beer brand owned by cidermaker C&C.

The political furore has closely focused on the role in discussions between DF and the Scottish administration of a former SNP politician-turned lobbyist.

The genesis of the request by DF for a payment from politicians was a requirement to move the 18-year-old festival from its traditional location. It agreed it would move from Balado near Kinross, to Strathallan Castle in Perthshire. The move arose because of safety concerns over an oil pipeline.

Mr Desmond told The Irish Times last night that the move had cost DF "millions".

“We had to relocate, and it has cost us a lot of money, millions of pounds,” he said. Mr Desmond acknowledged that the company had asked the Scottish government for cash to help keep the event going.

“We looked for compensation. We asked them to give us a helping hand,” he said.

When asked if DF had threatened it would consider moving the event from Scotland, he said “T in the Park is a part of Scottish heritage”.

“It’s been there for two decades. Everybody wants to stay in Scotland. But it’s a bit like the situation with the Web Summit moving to Lisbon,” he said.