Tourism Minister Adrian Earnshaw says he's not disappointed by Tynwald's decision to re-examine the possibility of a link between his department and organisers of the Peel Bay Festival.

A motion in the court from Speaker of the House of Keys Steve Rodan sparked a two hour debate on the issue in Tynwald last night (Tues).

Mr Rodan's motion, which called for the DTL to work with the organisers to investigate how the festival could become a significant annual event was basically upheld, albeit with slight amendments from Juan Turner MLC which called on DTL to investigate with promoters proposals for its future development as a public/private partnership from 2009.

The festival this year lost three quarters of a million pounds and Mr Earnshaw (pictured) isn't convinced that such a festival is financially viable. However he says if plans are revised there could be a future for it: