The Hot Press Live Music Venue of the Year is part of the IMRO Live Music Venue of the Year awards scheme. The shortlist was officially announced today - in all, twenty venues have been shortlisted by Hot Press, from Matt Molloy's superb establishment in Mayo – also selected for the first time – to blockbusters like the O2 in Dublin. Key Dublin venues shortlisted alongside The Workman's Club include former winners Vicar Street, The Academy, The Olympia Theatre and Tripod.

Cork is also strongly represented in the shortlist with last year's winners Cyprus Avenue, The Pavilion and De Barra's of Clonakilty all featuring. There is a fourth newcomer to the nominations list with The Seamus Ennis Centre in the Naul featuring for the first time in the 2010 list.

"It's great to see these new venues emerging to add further to the opportunities for Irish musicians to get out there and show off their wares," Hot Press editor Niall Stokes commented. "There's a lot of great bands and artists making hugely exciting music at the moment in Ireland. To a greater extent than ever before, there are now really good venues to accommodate them – which is half the battle in terms of creating a viable scene."

Voting for the Hot Press Live Music Venue of the Year Award is now live on hotpress.com. For the full shortlist, click here.

Pictured: Villagers, AKA Conor O'Brien performs in The Workman's Club.