This year, three priests from Northern Ireland signed a £1 million recording contract with Britney Spears's record label. They tell Brian Boydwhy they're not so innocent

IN APRIL of this year, a picture was taken outside Westminster Cathedral. It showed three fortysomething Northern Ireland priests signing a £1 million recording contract with music conglomerate Sony. It was dismissed by many as a PR stunt - the "holy" record-buying market is already well-served and albums by singing priests simply don't sell enough to justify a lavish £1 million advance.

As the months went past, though, a different picture began to emerge of what Frs Eugene and Martin O'Hagan (brothers), Fr David Delargy and Sony were producing. News leaked out that renowned music producer Mike Hedges - famous for his work with the Manic Street Preachers, The Cure and U2 - was working on the album; that Sally Herbert, who has arranged music for Radiohead, was also in on the project; and that celebrity photographer David Bailey was enthusiastic about doing the promotional shots. The three priests had also signed up to the same management company who, in the past, have handled the affairs of Eminem and Marilyn Manson.

All went quiet as the priests went off to record their album in Rome, but last month it was revealed that the most watched music clip on YouTube so far this year has been of The Priests (as they are known) singing Pie Jesu in the Vatican.

Next Friday, The Priests will release their eponymously titled album of religious classics and standards (including Ave Maria, Panis Angelicus and the show-stopping final song, Be Still My Soul), and it is widely expected to knock the hard-rockin' AC/DC off the top of the charts. It's being released simultaneously in 36 different countries and according to industry predictions, Sony's advance now looks like a bargain.

"This all started in a school called St MacNissi's College, just outside of Larne," says Fr Eugene. "Myself and Martin first met David there. We were known as 'Holy, Holy, Holy' by our classmates because, if we weren't singing, we were talking about our plans to join the priesthood. It was a boarding school and I can still remember the rush to get to the TV room every time Top of the Pops came on - which the three of us followed with great interest. Then sometimes at lights-out time, we would put the earphones into our smuggled-in radios and listen to Radio Caroline under the sheets."

All three priests now hold parishes in the diocese of Down and Connor and it was, Fr Eugene says, their commitment to their vocations that kept them from a singing career. They have, though, been much in demand for parish events that require celebratory music.

"We are all very happy in our jobs, but one day last year the guy who plays percussion with Van Morrison told us about this big-name London music producer who was looking for people to sing on a Latin Mass album he had planned," says Fr Eugene. "Even then, we had to be persuaded to record a demo tape to send over to him. Mike Hedges says that when he played it, he was blown away by the sound of our three voices. He dropped his plans for a Latin Mass album and we decided to go with the songs that we knew best."

MIKE HEDGES SAYS that he when he first heard the demo tape, he "went nuts - this rich wonderful sound filled the room".

All three priests have Catholic (sorry) musical tastes. "Fr David loves Blondie and Debbie Harry and Fr Martin loves Bruce Springsteen and Sting, but I'd be more of the easy-listening genre," says Fr Eugene. Daniel O'Donnell? "No. A very nice man - but he wouldn't be on my list."

The unique aspect of the Sony contract with The Priests is that they only record or perform when their main vocational job allows it. There are clauses built in which ensure that they are available for essential parish activities - and Sony have been left in no doubt as to where their priorities lie. All the money raised by album sales will go directly to charity.

Fr Eugene is already a little bit disappointed by the fame game.

"There was an interview with us in a reputable English newspaper and it had something in it which none of us ever said," he says. "You're told that that sort of thing only happens in other papers, not reputable ones. The local parishioners find it all very amusing. 'Fame at your time of life?' seems to be a common refrain."

Already The Priests have had to get used to being slightly patronised by the media: these three innocent men on the same label as AC/DC and Britney Spears.

"Let me put it this way: we're not nonplussed by the reaction to us," Fr Eugene says. "People tend to forget that the three of us all went to a secular university - we know who Led Zeppelin are - and we've all lived abroad for many years, particularly in Rome, where we enjoyed every minute of the food, art, and the environment there. Also, we've all worked in parishes in the North of Ireland during the worst days of the Troubles. We've seen a lot. We're not an innocent boyband, we're not even a manband! We're quite long in the tooth and none of this fazes us one little bit. Besides, it's not even our main job."

The honesty and sincerity that characterise his speech are also evident in the music. The album is far from a novelty recording; it's a robust and resonant piece of work from three very gifted vocalists.

Whether singing Domine Fili Unigente or Plegaria, the trio do it with a rare sense of potency. It's all distinctly "unshowbiz", and all the better for it. With so much music these days (particularly vocals) being treated and distorted in the studio to make it more "radio-friendly", there's an appealing rawness and integrity to the vocal delivery here.

While no live dates have been booked yet - and all live shows will have to fit around their jobs - Fr Eugene says he would like to tour the album. He is already steeling himself for press inquiries about his religion.

"We will be all too glad to talk about the music, but I can see situations where we will be asked about our attitude to women priests and questions of that nature," he says. "All I can say is that we don't have an opinion on any area which is different to that which the Church holds. We would be happy to elaborate if there was a genuine interest in the topic. After all, we can't separate ourselves as priests form the universal teaching of the Church. But, you know, we've had all of these type of discussions with ourselves and other people before we even joined the seminary."

HE'S SEEN NOTHING yet in the music industry and how it operates as a business to dissuade him from carrying on with his musical work. "The energy and interest from the record label appears to be genuine," he says. "They've shown huge commitment to this and are working really hard on it. We are aware that, for Sony, this is a commercial enterprise, they're not in this to get more people through the church door. For our part, we have our own motivation. This is music for people of all faiths and of none. If this gets the message of faith out there into the modern world, we'll be very happy."

The Priestsis released on Nov 21; www.thepriests.com