A ny word for the haters, Mark? "F*** ye! We don't give a f***!" Mark Sheehan plays guitar and sings in the Script. People hate the Script. Like, seriously hate them. They hate them for the same reasons Irish people hate lots of things. They are commercial. Unapologetically. They are pop in a country with a music press that almost exclusively only rewards indie. They're Irish and they don't sound Irish. They were in a boyband and then fecked off to the US to learn how to become proper musicians, producers, and all-round chartbusters. They are hawt. They bagged a simultaneous number one album and single in the UK. They have videos that look like real proper videos that MTV plays. They have tens of millions of views on YouTube, where their obsessive fans say stuff like "i absolutely love da script dey ar amazing totally agree with addey2008 dey keep gettin betta n betta".

And on top of all this, they then go and infiltrate the muso sanctum that is the Choice Music Prize, which will be decided this week. When the Script were nominated alongside Irish indie darlings like Fight Like Apes and Jape for the prize that awards the best Irish album of the previous year, the message boards, blogs and alt-music fans went nutso. How dare the Script! How dare they! Well, as Sheehan says, they don't give a f***. And why should they?

The Script's rise to international fame has been remarkable, happening, seemingly, overnight – well, their 'launch' to the world did. With singles coming thick and fast, blanketing radio and music channels in their glossy, catchy tunes, all of a sudden the Script were, as they say in their native Dublin 'hood of the Liberties, only massive. Most people didn't even know they were Irish.

But before all that, of course, was the obligatory 10,000-hour rule (© Malcolm Gladwell). The guys had worked their guts out in the US for years, earning kudos and writing and production credits. In music production land, the Script get a lot of respect.

Sheehan doesn't know when they last had a day off, or when the next one will be. "I feel kind of transient anyway in my life. I've had the experience of being away for quite a while... the hardest thing [with constant touring] is just missing your family, really. That, and seeing your mates down the local for a pint."

He talks in the annoyingly brief way that big popstars who have done a bajillion interviews do. Answer question in a snippet, then stop and wait for next question. But if you poke him a little about the music itself, he gets exercised: "Look, we didn't invent a new instrument, but it was an achievement to make the album in that bloody small space that we did. What I'm saying is there's so much stuff that goes into what we do. What we play on stage is seriously skilful. This is why these huge producers and writers respect us so much."

And they kill it live too. KILL IT. ("You have to come to a Script show to see what it's all about," says Sheehan.) Lead singer Danny O'Donoghue has a phenomenal voice, and all three of the band are expert musicians. It's a horrible truth for pop-haters to swallow. For all the guff about 'hard-working' bands and 'real' musicians and the importance of 'writing your own tunes', the Script would probably whack most scruffy little bands out of the park on all these counts. Dang. The Script – 1, everyone else – 0.

Sheehan says he tries to promote Irish music around the world, and mentions Irish bands in as many interviews as he can. (He loves Republic of Loose and also digs the Blizzards and the Coronas.) But as for their co-nominees for the Choice Music Prize, he hasn't had a chance to listen to them yet.

"I was going to lie to you and say I had," he says, "but to be perfectly honest, I tried to get online before I was talking to you and listen to some of them, but the f***ing internet in the tour bus was down." Goddamn tour bus internet. "I generally get the impression from everyone that they are more obscure albums." I guess so.

The Script still dig being nominated, though. They think it speaks for the quality of their tunes.

"It's more that we're over the moon that those judges sat down and clearly looked at our album," says Sheehan. "They probably thought, 'This is going to cause some s***, but let's put it in anyway.' They obviously thought it was a good album and deserved to be in there."

Then he canvasses for the win. "If I was them in their [the judges'] shoes, thinking what band to pick, they should pick whatever band is going to do something, who is having success. I'm saying give it to the band that best deserves it."

Then he chats about being recognised in restaurants now that his band is famous, the "shenanigans" associated with having 14 lads going around the world on tour, hanging out with Perez Hilton who had the exclusive to their new video this week, and bombing around Japan, Australia, Europe and the US over the next while. Oh, and supporting Take That on their UK tour.

The Script, eh? Bastards.

The Choice Music Prize takes place in Vicar Street, Dublin, on Wednesday. Tickets are available from Ticketmaster at €27. www.choicemusicprize.com