Cork 2005: The company charged with running this year's events, Cork 2005, is set to end the year on a financially respectable note. Cork 2005's acting director Joe Kennelly described the company's accounts to date as "clean as a whistle" last week, after city manager Joe Gavin presented the city council with a financial assessment, writes Mary Leland

A €21 million programme was developed from an original budget of between €12.7 million and €13.5 million, assisted by an additional grant of €1.5 million from the Department of Arts and more than €6 million in sponsorship from the private sector.

This sponsorship means the city council will not have to make good its commitment to underwrite the company's costs to the tune of €3.17 million.

The council's contribution now stands at €5.75 million. The Department provided €7.85 million and close to €1 million came from other sources such as the EU and the Health Services Executive.

Crucial to the financial - and cultural - outcome, however, was the response of the private sector, which was initially slow, if not reluctant.

Once private funding kicked in, however, it made an enormous difference, not least in developer Owen O'Callaghan's provision of 185sq m of city-centre space as a publicity and information office.

Benefits in kind figure in the accounts,amounting to €4 million. While cash payments from private sources amount to less than €2.56 million, it's not clear if this includes the cost of such major events as Airgeadóir, the exhibition of Cork silver and gold funded by the Bowen Group, or Tom Coughlan's sponsorship of the Burges restoration programme and exhibition at the Public Museum.

What is clear, however, is that the city manager won the agreement of the council to waive the current underwriting commitment in favour of an outright grant toward the closing ceremonies at the end of December.

These plans are now being finalised and will begin on November 27th with the switching on of the Christmas lights in Patrick Street, and end, after a series of light-themed events, on December 31st.