Correspondingly, the film's ensemble cast, made up of inexperienced musicians and novice actors, became an overnight sensation.

They all dived headlong into a carousel of high-profile events and scenarios. But what ever became of Deco, Jimmy, Joey the Lips and the rest?

Andrew Strong Declan Cuffe, vocals With his inimitable voice, Strong's future as a musician was pretty much assured. He moved briefly to Denmark and, after touring the world with Prince, Elton John and the Rolling Stones, signed a multi-album deal with EMI. His first three albums went platinum, and in 2005 he released a greatest hits album with Sony-BMG.

Maria Doyle Kennedy Natalie Murphy, backing vocals Doyle Kennedy is still singing and acting.

Post-Commitments, she teamed up again with Angeline Ball in John Boorman's The General, and also appeared in episodes of Father Ted and Queer As Folk. A member of the Black Velvet Band, she formed her own record label, Mermaid Records, releasing her debut album in 2002, and she recently appeared on the big screen as Rosemary in Tara Road, the film based on the Maeve Binchy novel.

Bronagh Gallagher Bernie McGloughlin, backing vocals Gallagher went on to play over 25 more acting roles, including turns in Pulp Fiction, Tara Road and This Year's Love. In terms of her singing career, she released the album Precious Soul on her own label, Salty Dog, in 2005, which featured collaborations with Brian Eno and Sinead O'Connor producer John Reynolds.

Glen Hansard Outspan Foster, guitar Just as his character Outspan continued to thrive as a musician after the demise of the band in The Commitments, Hansard has become one of Ireland's most prolific musicians, as leader of the Frames, which he founded before his appearance in Alan Parker's movie. The band have enjoyed multi-platinum success in Ireland over the last 15 years. He did not act again until recently, when he made a movie with Bachelor's Walk writer John Carney, Once, which is due for release later this year. In 2003, he presented a series of the popular RTE music show Other Voices: Songs From A Room.

Felim Gormley Dean Fay, saxophone Gormley has made a successful career in music. As a backing musician, he went on to play with Prince, Billy Joel, Ronnie Wood, James Brown, Elton John and Rod Stewart.

Nowadays, he is a member of former An Emotional Fish frontman Ger Whelan's band, Jerry Fish and the Mudbug Club.

Johnny Murphy Joey 'The Lips' Fagan, trumpet Murphy was one of the few experienced actors in the cast. His appearance in The Commitmentswas his eighth film role, and he is one of Ireland's most highly regarded thespians. Some of his other notable movie roles include Angela's Ashes and I Went Down.

Robert Arkins Jimmy Rabbitte, manager Although Arkins never was not in the band line-up of the Commitments, he performed several songs on the soundtrack to the film and he's rumoured to be producing and writing in Dublin.

Angeline Ball Imelda Quirke, backing vocals After the release of the film, several doors opened for Ball. She starred opposite Macaulay Culkin in the sequel to My Girl and appeared in Peak Practice, Rose & Maloney and Randall & Hopkirk: Deceased. Currently dividing her time between London, Los Angeles and France, she still regularly visits Dublin and keeps in touch with several of her Commitments co-stars. "I saw Maria and Bronagh at Christmasf we've always kept in touch even if the boys have spread out, " she says. "Us girls will always have a special bond! Although they're working all the time, we do try to see each other often. Whenever I'm in Dublin it's almost like a working holiday."

Kenneth McCluskey Derek Scully, bass McCluskey was one of the few experienced musicians who attended the open auditions. "The gas thing was that when I auditioned I had no idea what it was, " he says.

"I didn't even know it was going onto the big screen, or who Alan Parker even was. I wasn't daunted because I was full of blind confidence." He has spent the last 13 years touring the world with the Commitments, the band he formed with Dick Massey (who played drummer Billy Mooney in the film).

Michael Aherne Steven Clifford, piano "I wasn't there for my musical talent, " says Clifford. "I had the right look and was in the right place. I had no notions." Michael returned to the day job after his brief flirtation with the limelight, just as his character did in the film. Currently working in the Dublin Transportation Office, Michael's involvement in The Commitments has becoming something of a running joke at work. "In the office I generally refer to 'my last major movie', " he laughs. "It doesn't feature that prominently in my life . . . not that I'm not happy with my input."

Dave Finnegan Mickah 'Don't F**k With Me' Wallace, drums As one of the few members of the cast who didn't perform on the soundtrack album, he never received royalties for the platinum-selling album. A year after the release of the film, Finnegan landed a small part in Into The West, and created a number of soul outfits, including Finnegan's Wake and Stacks Of Soul. He then joined the Commitments with McCluskey and Massey, touring with them for six years until tension with Massey resulted in an acrimonious split. Finnegan admits that his alcoholism had a part to play in this turn of events. Currently living in the UK, he is now touring with his own outfit, Dave Finnegan's Commitments.

AND, AND, F**KIN' AND. . .

>> The kid on the skateboard who appears outside Robert Arkins' (Jimmy's) window when the band are recruiting members is the boy from the covers of U2's 'Boy' and 'War' albums.

>> Initially, producers wanted Andrew Strong's musician father, Rob, to audition for one of the roles. He brought his 16-yearold son along, who then landed the lead role.

>> The role of Jimmy Rabbitte nearly went to Blaise Smith, who ended up playing the pool-hall manager in the film. Smith is now a successful artist.

>> Alan Parker was nothing if not a fan of self-referencing. In the film, Jimmy is asked if he has brought 'Mississippi Burning' (also directed by Parker) with him on the train. In addition, Parker plays the record producer in the studio near the end of the film. A cardboard cut-out of him can also be seen in the background in the video-shop scene.

>> All of the members of the Corrs won small roles in the film.

Andrea plays Jimmy's little sister Sharon. Jim is part of the Avant-Garde-A-Clue Band. Caroline appears in the audience during the performance of 'I Never Loved A Man'. Finally, Sharon can be seen playing violin with the country & western band that Bernie joins at the end of the film.

>> Producers originally wanted Van Morrison to play the role of Joey 'The Lips' Fagan.

>> Johnny Murphy (Joey The Lips) and Bronagh Gallagher (Bernie) were the only cast members who had no music experience prior to the making of the film.

>> The pool hall scenes were shot in the Camden Deluxe bar on Camden Street, Dublin, while the scene at the Dart station is the only one to have made use of a location in Kilbarrack, the Dublin district on which Roddy Doyle based Barrytown.

Among the gig venues used in the film were the Waterfront bar on Dublin's City Quay and the Top Hat in Dun Laoghaire.

>> In the 113 minutes of the film's running time, the word 'f**k' is uttered 145 times.