More than 4,000 young people are taking part in one of the biggest musical competitions in Europe, which gets under way in Dublin next week.
The 111th Feis Ceoil takes place at the RDS from Monday, March 19th to Friday, March 30th. "It is all classical music - choirs, instruments and soloists - and some are competing for bursaries including, for the first time this year, the John McCormack bursary worth €10,000 for solo singing," said co-ordinator Carmel Byrne.
One of the biggest hopes for future stardom is 12-year-old violinist David Tobin. From Sutton, Dublin, he has been playing since he was four and attends the Young European Strings school.
He won the under-11s section of the feis when he was eight, the under-13s when he was nine, the under-15s when he was 10 and this year he is competing in the under-17s. Asked whether he hoped to play violin professionally, he said: "Well, yes; either that or football."