Van Morrison has been one of the Fleadh's main attractions

The festival, which traditionally takes place in June in London's Finsbury Park, is a centred around Irish music and entertainment.

Since the festival began in 1990, Fleadh headliners have included Van Morrison, The Pogues and The Corrs. The one-day event has consistently attracted crowds of over 30,000 and boasts several stages.

But organisers have blamed a less than buoyant Irish music scene for part of the problem, according to Sunday's edition of the Observer newspaper.

BBC News Online contacted the organisers, Mean Fiddler, on Monday, but they refused to give any comment.

The festival has reportedly been unable to find a sufficiently heavyweight Irish act without appearing too repetitive.

The Pogues and Van Morrison have both headlined the event more than once. Other Irish acts, including Boyzone, The Cranberries, Ash and The Divine Comedy have also played the festival.

Irish identity

In previous years non-Irish headline acts have included Crowded House, Sting. The Beautiful South and Neil Young.

But the festival would be in danger of losing its spirit if it relied too heavily on "outside" acts, warned Niall Stokes, the editor of Irish music magazine Hot Press said.

"It was very important to the Fleadh that it had an Irish identity. If that is diluted, then the festival loses its raison d'�tre. There are only so many times you can ask Van Morrison to headline," he told the Observer.

The 2002 event was headlined by The Pogues and included Irish acts such as Gemma Hayes, Altan and Mary Coughlan alongside non-Irish performers such as The Wonderstuff and Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros.

Finsbury Park has also seen other one day musical events recently, including shows by Oasis and New Order.