Result!

They could have been forgiven for thinking that it had to be their year, but U2 are no longer Irish music’s only option. Admittedly, the Dublin four-piece would be the first to welcome the competition, given the calibre of other nominees in the best album, band, single, live gig, songwriter and musician categories.

The fact that Ireland’s biggest musical export didn’t emerge victorious in every section in which they were nominated speaks volumes about how the standard and range of Irish music has both excelled and broadened in scope in recent years. Bono took the Male Singer award and the band deservedly took the award for Best Gig by an Irish Act (The Edge promising a Slane DVD by Christmas). U2, perhaps inevitably, also walked away with Best Band but in categories such as Best Album and Best Single the Goliaths of Irish rock were squarely beaten by the, er, Davids that were Ash. The Downpatrick band looked suitably surprised by their success given the competition, yet proved just why they were worthy winners with a brace of blistering performances including ‘Burn Baby Burn’ and a cover of The Pixies' ‘Debaser’ with The Frames.

Hansard’s crew also showed their mettle on a live version of ‘God Bless Mom’ though The Frames confounded many pundits by failing to bag an award despite being nominated in no less than four categories. Their performance on the night may have had several on the judging panel wishing that they had had the gift of foresight.

Up-and-comer Gemma Hayes proved that it wasn’t just mega-sales figures that counted here, besting Andrea Corr, Samantha Mumba

and recent East West signing Juliet Turner in the Best Female Vocal category. Cara Dillon also delighted her fans by taking the award in the Roots section, despite being up against members of the old-guard such as the Grammy-winning Enya, Dervish and Kila.

Caroline Corr provided a touching moment when she thanked her father as she collected her Best Musician award.

The Phil Lynott Newcomer Award was among the hardest to predict, and some were surprised at those bands who weren’t nominated. The Revs emerged victorious, a sign that a band on an independent label who have built a solid fan-base through incessant touring can still triumph over some perhaps equally talented bands, Relish and Melaton in this case, who have the backing of a major label (EMI and Sony, respectively).

Neil Hannon was awarded the best songwriter trophy which will have pleased the ex-Divine Comedy honcho as he embarks on a solo career.

With Irish pop becoming perhaps the fastest growing genre in music in recent years it was The Corrs who capitalised on their international success, beating off the Louis Walsh posse of Westlife, Samantha Mumba and Ronan Keating to win best pop act.

Dance is another area in which Irish musicians are currently the equal of many of their international counterparts and the Dance award was one of the most difficult to call. Despite serious competition from well-publicised artists like Decal, Firstborn and Mr Spring, it was local Belfast DJ and producer Phil Kieran who carried off the award, proving that Northern Ireland can match the South when it comes to block rockin’ beats. Fellow Northern Irish DJ David Holmes deservedly took an Outstanding Contribution To Popular Music award in a year that saw the DJ turned composer score one of the year’s biggest cinema releases, Ocean’s 11. He also cracked one of the night's most perceptive jokes: "What's the difference between Dublin and Belfast? There are no boy bands in Belfast!" Boom, and indeed, boom.

As the Hot Press Irish Music Awards are one of the premier events in the Irish music industry calendar, it is fitting that the back-room folk in management, production and promotion should also be given recognition for their contribution to music. Dave Fanning, REM producer Pat McCarthy and David Holmes would all have been worthy winners but it was Corrs’ manager John Hughes who triumphed, presented the award by an ecstatic Jim Corr who described him as, "More than just a manager".

With Ireland now an established date on the touring calendars of most international acts, the Best Performance In Ireland By An International Act went to Radiohead, for their Belfast Odyssey Arena show held only days after September 11th. On accepting the award from Bono (who displayed a hitherto unveiled comic talent) Colin Greenwood commented that he’d been impressed by U2’s live performance in Milton Keynes way back in 1985.

Summing up the night, Adam Clayton mused: "Gosh, Hot Press, 25 years? That makes them about a year older than us. When we started out they were like the only place where you could get information. There were a lot of young writers and people that really cared about music. Dave Fanning was just starting out at pirate radio and it was the very beginning of this thing of Irish music where people wrote their own songs and performed them as themselves rather than somebody else.

"Bill Graham was a writer at Hot Press. He was a visionary who introduced us to our manager, Paul McGuinness and I think the dream of everybody who worked at Hot Press then was one day there would be a room full of talent as varied and successful as everyone here.

Thank you all very, very much. It's great to be here among such great company. Thank you Hot Press."

No, thank you!