This year's City of Culture, Derry-Londonderry, may have to scale back its programme of events due to a funding shortfall.

According to the BBC, total funding already committed to the event is £16.4m - most of which came from Northern Ireland's Department for Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL).

The funding shortfall comes from sponsorship - where only £436,000 from a target of £2.5m has been raised - and income from tickets and merchandising, which was set to earn a further £2.7m but at mid-April had only raised £186,000.

A spokesperson for Culture Company 2013, which is running the event, said flagship events such as the Turner Prize, Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann, The Return of Colmcille and Lumiere will not be affected. Key community and educational engagement projects The Music Promise and Portrait of a City are also secure.

The spokesperson said: "The programme for Derry-Londonderry's UK City of Culture 2013 was deliberately designed to be scaleable and in the event of a budget shortfall there will be no noticeable reduction in the City of Culture celebrations.

"The programme will remain the most extensive and diverse programme of cultural activity ever to take place on the island of Ireland."