Folk duo Foster and Allen have offered to pay for RTé reporter Colm Murray to travel to the Cheltenham racing festival next month after station bosses axed his visit to cut costs.

Tony Allen, of the bestselling folk act, claims that however much money Ireland has lost in recent months due to a downturn in the economy, it will be nothing compared to what Irish racing fans will lose at Cheltenham without the guidance of RTé's top tipster.

"Colm Murray gives great racing tips to the Irish at Cheltenham," he said. "Nobody is going to know which horse to back if Colm isn't over there... A lot of money, a lot of Irish money, could be lost. In this kind of national emergency Foster and Allen are stepping in."

Allen said it would be embarrassing not to have somebody at Cheltenham from the national broadcaster. "All the BBC racing people will be there," he said. "It will be embarrassing not to have RTé's top racing man there."

It will be the first time Murray has missed a Cheltenham in nearly 20 years. Instead of sending the reporter, RTé plans to buy in their coverage of the racing festival from other broadcasters.

A spokeswoman for the broadcaster said RTé would have to turn down Foster and Allen's offer.

"As a public-service broadcaster, RTé would not be able to accept money or sponsorship in this way," she said. "There are other costs involved, including the cost of live feeds and satellites, but we don't think viewers will be disappointed with RTé's Cheltenham coverage."