From small nights in dark basements to 30,000-capacity superclub shenanigans in a field, Ireland's dance scene has come a long way in the past ten or so years. What began life with two feet firmly in the underground has slowly developed into the big bucks "youth movement" we have today. And while it may have its problems, it seems Ireland is finally developing an indiginous electronic music scene to be proud of.

As the recent Smirnoff Dance Club Awards proved, things are getting bigger, and for the most part, better. There are more clubs opening, venues are packing out, more specialist vinyl shops are popping up and everybody's a DJ.

Hard house and progressive trance dominate the majority of the country's dancefloors. Passion at the GPO in Galway, Club Space in Camolin, Lust in Thurles, the Redbox in Dublin, The Grill in Letterkenny, Space at the Temple Theatre and Lush! in Portrush have all become established names on the big name DJ circuit, each packing in a dance-hungry crowd every weekend.

Moving away from the mainstream, there's an equally vibrant scene thriving, with the likes of Sweat in Sir Henry's, the numerous Influx nights, Shine in Belfast, Horan's in Tralee, the regular Impulsive bashes around the country and Bassbin in Dublin showing that the underground is still alive and well.

While booking the big name jocks from abroad is pretty much an unavoidable trend these days, there's an increasing move toward looking after our own talent. Homelands' Homegrown tent - showcasing Irish DJs proved that we're capable of doing things just fine by ourselves.

New companies like Emergency DJs - offering a one-hour callout time to punters in need of a disc jockey - serve to highlight just how popular this dancing around in nightclubs thing has become.

However, all is not completely rosy in the land of dance. One factor holding us back from

cranking things up another gear is the archaic licensing laws in operation. Compared to other cities throughout Europe, we're being stymied by the current laws. As Redbox promoter and DJ, Robbie Butler puts it: "There's a lot going on but we have a long way to go. We have to extend the opening hours before we can really claim to have a truly independent scene".

But the most important development in recent years has been the emergence of a motley crew of producers and record labels from every

possible pigeonhole that are committed to

releasing quality, original Irish music.

"It's taken a long time," reckons Lush! promoter Col Hamilton. "I think a lot of people just sat back because they've sent off demos and never heard anything back. But people have seen some Irish names succeeding, and they've thought, 'Fuck it, if they can do it, we can do it as well'."

As is the case across the world, the advent of the bedroom studio has meant that technology is available at a reasonable price. But, in the past Irish music seemed to have been a couple of steps behind.

"We didn't have the infrastructure for years," says Shine promoter Alan Simms. "There's quite a big gap between us and the UK, a lot more than just the big pond. In England, there's always someone that can give you advice, but here we didn't have that."

Impulsive's Dean Sherry feels that we've learned from others' mistakes. "I think it's a good thing that it's taken a while, because it means we're not releasing haphazard stuff. This is stuff people have been working on for years."

"People are starting to finally grab themselves by the bollocks and getting something done," proffers Connection records boss, Declan Canning. "They're sick of other people getting the limelight when we should be. There's a lot of

really talented people making music in Ireland now."

In Dublin alone, there's an array of producers and labels getting down to business. Apart from the more established names like Eamon Doyle's respected techno stable D1, U:Mack's Trama Industries - home to Decal and Phil Kieran - and breakbeat boys Influx, some newer names will soon be arriving at a record store near you.

Connection has been in existence for the past two years, and after two releases from label boss Declan Canning and Chi-town artist, Brian Harding, they're gearing up to release one of the first Irish house compilations. And apart from tracks by the likes of Canning, Graham O'Sullivan and Similae, they've secured the services of none other than San Fran's Rasoul and Presence's top man, Charles Webster.

"We're using these names for two reasons," says Canning. "One, they're quality artists that are going to get bigger and two, they'll bring

attention to the homegrown stuff on the label. We want people to see the label and listen to it because they'll know it's quality music."

While still a relatively underground scene, the Bassbin label has shown that Irish drum 'n' bass is alive and seriously kicking.

Two releases old, with a third on the way, they've practically sold out their initial run of the first two releases. Bassbin's Rohan is

understandaby pleased with current progress.

"Things are going well at the moment. We're very happy to know that our records are actually getting into shops around the world - 40% of our sales are in territories outside of Ireland and England. We've got guys in studios that are

working on stuff at the moment - they all really, really want this to work."

Dean Sherry's Impulsive label is making similar waves abroad. "Two of our releases, Phunkd'Up's 12" and Mark Lowdnes' record have done well in the States, they're selling quite well in the bigger cities and they've charted in the Balance chart, the main DJ's 'hype' chart, so we're delighted."

A key factor in pushing a lot of the more "underground" labels is Dublin Distribution. Set up by Eamon Doyle, the company provides a link between labels and shops worldwide, basically looking after the business side of things to allow the creative juices to flow undisturbed. Home to D1, Minimise, Paradiddle, Bassbin, Trama Industries and more, it has, according to producer Graham O'Sullivan, offered "an outlet for people in their own country to export their music to other people. Every other country has it, so why

shouldn't we?"

Producers in the sunny south aren't lagging far behind. Apart from the fine Southern Fried

compilation last summer, Sweat's Shane Johnson and Greg Dowling - recording as Fishgodeep - have recently signed a nifty four ep deal with the respected American deep house label i! records and a single deal with new French stable, Brique Roque.

In the North, Agnelli and Nelson have already tasted success, while the excellent Phil Kieran looks set to follow suit. Newer names like Coast To Coast, Creative Control and labels like Red and Raw, Slide and Digital Boogie's Product Deluxe are all making waves in the right areas. "It's very exciting at the moment," says Hamilton, "because a lot of kids are saving up, buying their

equipment and doing well out of it now. There's at least half-a-dozen guys up here starting to make names for themselves."

As well as this new breed of techno boffins, we're also seeing the return of dance acts like The Vivid, who took a five year hiatus after the release of their first album Shiny, but are back this week with their new album Stripper. Guitarist Séan Quinn and vocalist Peter Alexander recorded the work between Dublin studios and Peter's London home, and the album's crunching powerchords and muscular beats also feature some fine synth and sample work. Call it dance, electronic music or 21st century rock, The Vivid's Stripper is not like any Irish release you've ever heard, and in case you were wondering, that's all good! Visit The Vivid at www.thevivid.com.

Probably our finest electronic moment to date arrived last year in the shape of Donnacha Costello's Growing Up In Public album on the highly-respected German Force Inc label. Universally praised for its controlled and mature sound, the album's title in a way sums up the development of Irish dance music in the last decade. After a protracted teething period, it now seems we are finally ready to mature.