Westlife's comeback secures their position as Ireland's most successful pop act in history. But not everyone thought they'd make it this far...
Oh, how we laughed into our pints and threw our eyes to heaven.
No sooner had Irish pop's master matchmaker, Louis Walsh, established Boyzone as an ongoing concern than he was back, piecing together yet another Irish boyband.
Supercilious music hacks (guilty as charged) were the ones laughing into our pints and throwing our eyes to heaven, but we had already been caught off guard by the success of Walsh's first boy experiment. Under the Kiltimagh man's gimlet eye, Boyzone had scored a run of Irish and UK hits and established themselves as teen heartthrobs and Smash Hits cover stars.
Back in the early Nineties, Walsh, who had already managed Eurovision star Johnny Logan and many more, had seen the success of New Kids on the Block and Take That and twigged that there was a gap in the market for a guaranteed Irish version.
By the late Nineties, he was fast becoming the Irish equivalent of Larry Parnes, the pop Svengali who had ruled England's pre-Beatles pop scene. Louis also took more than a few notes from Take That's manager Nigel Martin Smith.
His new group were originally called Westside (you know, for that edgy Compton, LA vibe), but they had to change their name to Westlife. Before they could even sing a note in public, snickering rock hacks had already dubbed them 'Shelf Life'.
But almost from the start, there was something different about young bucks Nicky Byrne, Shane Filan, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, and Brian McFadden. They were polished, well-groomed, well-kitted-out, and they could actually sing!
Westlife looked like they'd just stepped out of a showroom, while Boyzone had a more homespun, rough-around-the-edges charm.
Not for Westlife the holy - but highly entertaining - show of Boyzone's debut TV appearance on The Late Late Show or Take That's endearingly naff macho gay image in the early Nineties.
Boyzone had clearly been the canaries in the coalmine; Westlife were the boyband who arrived fully formed. In fact, they made Boyzone look and sound like The Sex Pistols. It was like Take That and East 17 in reverse (ask your mum).
Whether it was just dumb good luck or meticulous planning, their timing was perfect. Westlife arrived in 1998 as the Celtic Tiger was still very much roaring. It was a time of boot-cut jeans and brown pointy shoes, collars up on rugby shirts, carefully tousled hair, and packed Dublin nightclubs. New glossy celeb magazines were popping up and paparazzi flashbulbs were popping.
Westlife arrived with a twinkle in their eye and a touch of Blarney in their hearts, looking like an ad in an in-fight magazine.
They have done rather well ever since then and are easily Ireland's most successful ever pop band, with 11 number one albums, 16 number one singles, two sold-out Croke Park shows, and a total of 55 million records sold. They have sung for President Obama and the Queen of England and lived the ultimate boyband dream.
As anyone who has ever been up close to the pop machine will tell you, being in a boyband is hard work, a treadmill of early mornings, personal appearances, and recording studio slog. But these balladeering buachaillí have always carried it off with good vibes and bonhomie - while sitting on unfeasibly high stools and staring meaningfully into the middle distance.
Not exactly 'Shelf Life'. In fact, in terms of longevity, Westlife are The Rolling Stones of boybands.
And now they're back a full 27 years after their debut to play an astonishing run of sold-out shows in Dublin and Belfast next year. Last week, they played the Royal Albert Hall. And they seem genuinely blown away by the response to their comeback.
In much the same way U2 haters have to concede some respect for the band's incredible achievements, Westlife also deserve plaudits for making it this far.
And if Westlife are indeed The Rolling Stones of Irish pop, who's to say that these sickeningly well-preserved lads won't be clambering onto those stools sometime in the year 2045?
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