"I come from a family of six and from a very normal background really. We have an engineer, a solicitor, a salesman, a legal secretary and a banker in the family and as children, none of us, including myself, had the first notion about opera singing. I had my heart set on doing law in Limerick like my eldest brother but he put me off the idea and told me to pursue my singing."

From a music and history degree in Trinity College Dublin, Ailish dipped her toe temporarily into the field of teaching but rapidly retreated after two weeks of the experience. "I absolutely hated teaching so I decided there and then to give the singing a go." With her initial vocal studies at the Royal Irish Academy of Music under her belt, followed by study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, the Mullingar woman won a place on a young artists' programme in one of the most prestigious operatic institutions in the world . . . the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

"That was one of the biggest stepping stones in my career really. The programme not only gave me the tools of my trade but also a bit of much-needed discipline.

Before that I was a bit wild, which I absolutely don't regret one bit.

I've seen a lot of how the world works and all of these experiences add to your performance on stage.

If you haven't gone through a lot of normal human experiences, I don't see how you have much to offer to an operatic role, for instance."

Since her ascent to Covent Garden and since becoming a BBC New Generation Artist, complemented nicely by a triumph at the BBC Singer of the World competition in 2003 and the title of RTE Millennium Singer of the Future, Ailish's career has continued to gather astonishing momentum.

When I spoke to her, she had just finished in the second of two consecutive operas at Covent Garden ("once you've been there as a young artist, you're almost like one of the family"). She is, to say the very least, in great demand in her adopted home. "To be honest with you, I find it difficult at the moment to find time to take a holiday! It has been literally non stop for the last eight years, since joining the young artists' programme. I have been so so lucky".

Such is the buzz around this young soprano, Ailish's visit to her native country next week, as soloist with the Irish Chamber Orchestra, will undoubtedly be met with great anticipation. She's just released a solo CD of Herbert Hughes's arrangements of Irish folk songs with pianist Ian Burnside, entitled A Purse of Gold but her repertoire next week couldn't be more different . . . Benjamin Britten's setting of Arthur Rimbaud's symbolist poems, 'Les Illuminations 'and songs by Gabriel Faure, including settings of three poems by the notorious and tragic Paul Verlaine.

Esteemed US violinist, Ian Swensen, steps into the director/soloist shoes for this programme, which is completed by Purcell ('The Gordion Knot Unty'd'), Prokofiev ('Five Melodies for Violin and String Orchestra') and Tchaikovsky ('Souvenir de Florence'). Miss this one at your peril. With the way Ailish Tynan's career is going, who knows when we might see her in this country again.