The Order of the Phoenix has been impatiently anticipated by devotees of the young magician, and cinemas nationwide are reporting a huge demand for the movie.

According to a spokeswoman for the Eye Cinema in Galway, one of their special 'minute past midnight on Wednesday' shows of Harry Potter and the Order Of the Phoenix was already fully booked by Thursday last week, with the second showing also almost at capacity.

"It's really going very well, " she said. "All the shows look set to be very busy, and I imagine we will be completely booked out on Thursday. The weather we're having is certainly helping as well."

In Dublin, a spokeswoman for Cineworld on Parnell Street said that they had been getting steady bookings all week for the movie. "We have several showings so we have a large capacity and still have some seats left, " she said. "Having said that, we're at least over 50% full already, and I reckon by Thursday we'll be full."

The Omniplex in Cork city also reported huge demand for tickets, with a spokesman for the cinema saying that they anticipated the shows being booked out for the entire weekend. "What will happen is that Thursday will fill up, and then people will start booking Friday and Saturday, " he said. "I'd imagine we'll be full the whole weekend."

There is an additional Irish interest in this latest chapter of the Harry Potter series, as Irish girl Evanna Lynch is starring as one of Harry's friends in the movie. Evanna beat 15,000 other actresses from across the UK and Ireland to win the part, and will attend the premiere screening of the movie at the Savoy cinema in Dublin tonight.