Galway County Council urged to back action after Tickets.ie closure

Urgent Government intervention and national legislation is needed following the collapse of Tickets.ie, according to Galway County Councillor, Shaun Cunniffe (Ind Ire).

Published 22nd Jun 2026, 17:33 BST Iconic Urgent Government intervention and national legislation is needed following the collapse of Tickets.ie, according to Galway County Councillor, Shaun Cunniffe (Ind Ire). Sign up to our Connacht Tribune Today daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know you can manage your profile, and explore all of the available newsletters from Connacht Tribune within your account.

Cllr Cunniffe raised the issue at this month's meeting of Galway County Council after several artists and event organisers were left out of pocket following the closure of Oshi Software Limited, trading as Tickets.ie.

The company ceased trading in early June and has moved to enter liquidation.

Cllr Cunniffe said that there is no specific regulatory regime in place to protect event promoters and ticket-buyers if a platform collapses, and that money raised through ticket sales should be ringfenced.

“It is a huge issue,” he said. “When these tickets are bought by the public they should be ringfenced. There should be a separate account that they can't access but it seems to be a part of their working capital.

“When a ticketing company goes into liquidation, it takes all of those fees with them. If they close down, it can leave organisers in huge difficulty.”

According to Cllr Cunniffe, national legislation is required and he has called for Government funding to be made available to help affected events and organisers.

When these tickets are bought by the public they should be ringfenced.

“We need to ask Minister for Enterprise, Peter Burke TD, and the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport, Patrick O'Donovan TD, to intervene,” he said.

“There needs to be national legislation. Anyone involved in taking large amounts of money, not just in ticketing but in all sorts of areas, should have a separate account and the money goes in there first. If anything happens and the core of the company goes down, the ticket sales are protected.”

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Cllr Cunniffe said Tickets.ie was one of the largest independent ticketing platforms in Ireland and that its services were relied upon by non-profit, community, sporting and independent festivals across the country.

“There are a lot of voluntary organisations and people who organise festivals for community enjoyment affected by this,” he said.

Referring to reports that affected festivals are owed hundreds of thousands of euro, Cllr Cunniffe said the collapse had exposed a gap in protections for organisers and ticket-buyers.

In his motion to Galway County Council, he said its “sudden collapse has left organisers across the country unable to recover ticket revenues already collected on their behalf - with affected festivals, including the Rory Gallagher International Festival, Rockathon and Cowboys and Heroes, reported to be collectively owed in the region of €580,000.”

A decision on the matter was deferred due to litigation on the issue.

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