Neil Hannon among the nominees for the 7th Annual Irish Film & Television Awards

Nominations have been announced in 37 award categories across film and television, celebrating the highest standard of Irish talent over the past twelve months.

Neil Hannon has been nominated for an IFTA Award for his soundtrack to the movie Wide Open Spaces, which was scripted by Father Ted co-creator Arthur Mathews and directed by Tom Hall. Hannon is one of five nominees in the Original Score category, with composer Brian Byrne also nominated for his score to the John Carney film Zonad.

The five shortlisted Best Feature Film nominees for 2010 are; Margaret Corkery’s drama Eamon; Conor McPherson’s supernatural thriller The Eclipse; Neil Jordan’s modern fairytale Ondine; Tomm Moore’s animated feature The Secret of Kells and John & Kieran Carney’s comedy Zonad.

Neil Jordan, Conor McPherson and John & Kieran Carney are nominated alongside Jim Sheridan for his work on Brothers in the Director/Film category.

There is also considerable musical interest in the Feature Documentary category, with Alan Gilsenan'a tribute to the late Liam Clancy The Yellow Bittern – The Legend of Liam Clancy, and Niall McKay's The Bass Player: A Song for Dad – a tribute to his jazz playing father Jim – both nominated.

The highest number of nominations has been received by Neil Jordan's Ondine and Conor McPherson's The Eclipse, setting up a potentially fascinating battle for the major honours. John Carney, who made his breakthrough with the Oscar-winning Once, has six nominations for his Zonad.

It seems oddly perverse that Jim Sheridan's Brothers – which has been on the receiving end of some very positive reviews in the US – should receive only one nomination.

For a full list of nominations, click here