THE biggest ever Irish comic invasion of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival is also the strongest ever with 10 different acts battling it out over the next three weeks for full houses, rave reviews and quite possibly, one or two award, writes Brian Boyd. Five of the acts are "in competition", meaning that their show is running for the entire three weeks (August 11th-31st) of the festival.

Heading up the list of Perrier award contenders is man of the moment, Ardal O'Hanion (at The Gilded Balloon), who is already a strong bet for the top prize. The astonishingly good Dylan Moran (at the Pleasance) is back to build upon the success he enjoyed last year, while relative newcomer, Ed Byrne, who was part of the Young Gifted And Green trio last year, strikes out on his own with a solo show at The Gilded Balloon.

Graham Norton, star of TV's Carnal Knowledge is at The Assembly Rooms while O'Hanlon's ex comedy partner from Trellis days, Kevin Gildea is at The Gilded Balloon. Out of "competition", Sean Hughes returns with his show at The Queens Hall, while his ex partner, Owen O'Neill (a Perrier award nominee in Edinburgh two years ago) brings his new show to the Traverse Theatre. The Australian based Irish comic, Jimeoin, is at The George Square Theatre and the Nualas (a big hit on their Edinburgh debut last year) will be at The Gilded Balloon for the last two weeks of the festival.

This year's Young Gifted And Green trio, trading under the name Gael Force Three, is made up of the very gifted Patrick McDonnell, coupled with Tommy Tieman and Gerry Mallon (venue to be confirmed). Stand by for all those "why are there so many good Irish comics" in the British broadsheets over the duration, and stand by for a strong Irish presence when the Perrier nominees are announced on August 21st. We'll keep you posted, but allow us the liberty of saying "I'll told you so" in advance about Ardal O'Hanlon.