The 13th Smithwick's Cat Laughs Comedy Festival was launched this morning by comedian PJ Gallagher from Naked Camera.
The festival, held annually in Kilkenny, was voted one of the world's top five comedy festivals by the Guardiannewspaper earlier this year alongside the world famous Montreal Just for Laughs comedy festival and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
This year's Cat Laughs, from May 31st to June 4th, will host a number of world-class Irish comedians, including Tommy Tiernan, Dara Ó Briain, Des Bishop and Ed Byrne.
The British contingent will consist of such comic luminaries as Paul Merton, John Bishop, Lucy Porter and Dave Johns, and they will be joined by a host of other international funny men and women, including Steve Hughes, Sarah Kendall, Carl Barron and Nick Griffin
PJ Gallagher has become a recent addition to the number of candidates for the forthcoming elections; his policies focus on the raising of the national laughter quota.