An Interview By Anne-Louise Foley of the Irish Independent.

If they had their way, music snobs would have you believe the music of The Corrs was too sweet or wholesome to be credible. Yet no one ever criticised Brian Wilson or Phil Spector for producing joyful, simple pop music. The difference is, while Wilson and Spector were driven to madness by unhappy childhoods, The Corrs sound is the product of a very happy one.

"Caroline and Andrea stuck together," says 32-year-old Sharon Corr, the eldest of the sisters. "I didn't take much notice, as long as they didn't borrow my clothes. That's when it got serious!" The Corrs' family home in Dundalk was a "typical teen household with all the usual mayhem of three girls growing up".

The girls went to Dun Lughaidh convent in Dundalk, while Jim went to the Christian Brothers. Sharon says she 'wasn't bad' but her brother and sisters were better. She found she didn't take kindly to discipline and the education system didn't suit her. She praises her 'gifted' English teacher and 'fantastic' music teacher, though says she would have loved music anyway. Music was a fixture in the Corrs' household before the kids were even aware of it. "Our parents had a band called Sound Affair," says Sharon. 'They were very successful." Doing popular covers by bands like The Eagles and The Carpenters, Gerry and Jean played around Dundalk for 28 years.

It was no surprise then, that they arranged music lessons for their four children. Little Caroline was sent to Fr McNally, who was teaching violin. Perhaps at three, she was a bit young to develop a bond with an instrument so notoriously difficult to play. So, six-year-old Sharon took over. "You need a lot of patience with the violin. It's hard learning it as a kid - it takes a lot of effort to get a nice sound out of it" She admits it was worth the time she put in.

There was never any doubt the future of the young Corrs was in music. Sharon went to the regional college in Dundalk to study science but only lasted a year. "It just wasn't for me," she says. At 19, she was managing a record shop, The Record Sleeve, in Dundalk and loved it. And by night, she was getting a taste of the local trad scene, working in her aunt Lillian's pub. For eight years, she (and eventually all her siblings) pulled pints in the lively and popular McManus's. "They were a great help," says Lillian McElamey. 'The fact that they are so good-looking didn't mean they couldn't get stuck into a bit of hard work!"

It would be another six years before The Corrs, in their full lineup, would become really successful. "I was hugely ambitious back then, as were all of us," says Sharon. 'We just wanted to have our music listened to globally." The rest is the stuff of dreams that come true: the appearance in acclaimed director Alan Parker's The Commitments; that night in Whelans in 1994, when a US ambassador invited them to play in Boston in the leadup to the World Cup; the six-album deal, topping the album charts in 1998 with Talk on Corners, playing to a packed Lansdowne Road. "I feel so lucky," says Sharon, "So many people are stuck in jobs they don't like. What we do is tremendously hard work but it's worth every minute."

She has a lot of fondness for her hometown, which undoubtedly fostered her love for traditional music. "Dundalk is so rich in culture and the attitude of people is amazing. They're great fun and really optimistic."

All The Corrs are now living in Dublin and are currently recording their next album. Last year, thousands of men sobbed into their pillows when Sharon married Belfast barrister, Gavin Bonner. The two also have a house in Belfast. She travels up to Dundalk once a week to see her two best friends and her Dad. "Dad and I go for a pint and a chat. I get attention from the locals but it's lovely. People say they're proud of us and that we're great ambassadors. That's always nice to hear."