It’s an age-old dilemma: should up and coming young Irish bands base themselves at the centre of the hurly burly of the British music biz in London or remain at home and strive t make it big from more familiar terrain?

It’s a question that has plagued two of Limerick’s bands-most-likely-to and one that has seen them come up with different answers.

Preparing to release their debut album on Island next February, The Cranberries have proved to be of the home-loving variety and remain firmly based in their native city.

Meanwhile, the four members of They Do It With Mirrors are shaping up to unleash their third EP on Setanta from a shared gaff in North London. Which is the better option? Here’s a tale of two cities…

The Cranberries:

Guitarist and chief melody-manufacturer Noel Hogan is a little the worse for wear as he talks to us from Newcastle, a stopover on the band’s mini-tour of the UK. With the single ‘Dreams’ having made it to the lower reaches of the English charts and a follow-up ‘Linger’ pencilled in for a New Year release, these are busy days for the ethereal four-piece. A support slot with the House of Love is scheduled for the Royal Albert Hall later this month.

With such heady activity on the immediate horizon, it appears to be quite a relief to the band to have a tranquil Irish base at their disposal.

"We’re definitely going to stay based in Limerick, there’s no question about it," confirms Noel. "We rehearse in Mungret (just outside the city) and it’s all very laid back. There’s nobody about to bother us."

It’s also good to have friends close on hand.

"Our mates don’t exactly see us as pop stars! We have jobs the same as them, ours are just a little bit different. If we started acting like we owned the place, we‘d soon be taken down a peg or two. They don’t take any messing down in Limerick!"

Of course, all is not hunky dory being based outside the mainstream of the UK industry. For one thing, a couple of polished demos sent across by Sealink can lead to media types waxing lyrical about an ensemble who are just finding their feet. With The Cranberries, that’s exactly what happened. The UK press were billing them as the Next Big Thing at a time when the band themselves weren’t so sure.

"When we first started playing gigs in England, we were being pushed as the best new indie band since God knows who. And, you know, we weren’t! We just weren’t ready for all the attention and it put us under a hell of a lot of pressure. We had a lot to live up to. We can do our best but no more."

An old maxim, it seems, should be writ large for emerging Irish talent: don’t believe what you read in the papers.

They Do It With Mirrors:

These curiously-monikered Limerick indie kids decided to go hell for leather early last year and moved lock, stock and barrel to London. Two EPs down the road, the band are convinced they made the right decision.

Speaking to us from the exotic climes of Tottenham High Street, bassist Ger Fitzgerald warns of the dangers of Irish bands building up a home audience first.

"You get Irish bands who stay at home, work away and build up a following around the country. Then they come over to England full of hero juice, reckon they’ve cracked it and suddenly realise that nobody knows them from Adam. We decided we could do without that sort of disillusionment."

The merits of a London base, the band have found, are many and varied.

"What’s brilliant is the amount of contacts you can build up when you’re here. Sure, there’s thousands of bands going for it but if you do anything worthwhile, people will remember the name."

The Mirrors have just done a string of support slots with the Sultans of Ping FC and in addition to regular English dates, they’ve been broadening their horizons.

"We were playing a small gig in London and this Swiss promoter turned up, liked what he saw and the next thing we knew we were headlining in Zurich. There was hundreds of these Swiss people going wild, acting like real fans. It was almost too much for innocent Irish lads to handle!"

There’s now talk of a return to Zurich to support the Inspiral Carpets.

Critically, the band have been going down a treat in France and are being hailed as a new indie sensation.

"There’s a pretty big festival on in France in March and there’s a chance we’re going to be topping the bill. That’s the sort of opportunity you just don’t get if you stay based in Ireland.