Other hit Irish acts include the singing and dancing comediennes, The Nualas, who got a Scotsman five-star review: "Dearest Nualas, will you marry us?" asks Bonnie Lee. Owen O'Neill, whose show is a dark exploration of alcoholism, also gained those crucial five stars and won a Scotland On Sunday Critics Award, as did composer Michael Nyman's collaboration with The Divine Comedy.

The Russian gypsy band, Loyko, made The List's Hit List and was described by The Scotsman as "a star act among the mirky (sic) constellations which crowd the Fringe". Okay, they're not strictly Irish but they live in Dublin and so let's just call it an Irish success. Now what was it you were saying about all those Romanian gypsies and where they should go home to?