"Brits screw the Irish again": The Brand

Tallaght outfit The Brand are feeling aggrieved this week after discovering that the Channel 4 reality band competition they're appearing on doesn't accept texts from Ireland.

Although delighted to have been selected for The Road To V, lead singer Shane O Fearghail feels they've no chance of winning if their established fan base can't vote for them.

"This is the result of a bizarre lack of technology, or the desire to use it, between countries," he rues. "Why aren't your texts accepted in the UK, and how many of you have texted to Big Brother? It's very weird."

On the plus side, The Brand's involvement in the competition, which ties in with this month's V2004 festivals in Chelmsford and Staffordshire, has lead to interest from EMI, Sony and Universal.

"We're a great band and I'm sure you'll see us at Glastonbury and V next year anyway," O Fearghail concludes defiantly.

The only Irish group to make it through to the TV stages of the competition, you can see how they fared at 9.45am on Thursday August 12. A bit early for A&R people, we'd have thought, or maybe they're catching them on the way home.