Gary Lightbody says Northern Ireland's music scene is thriving

He is a supporter of the Oh Yeah music project in Belfast, and was helping to put the case for more funding to the Arts Committee in Stormont.

The singer was asking the government for money to develop facilities such as rehearsal rooms and recording studios.

"The NI music scene is thriving at the moment but the infrastructure isn't there to support it," he said.

"These bands are going to have to leave home to find the support they require unless we provide it for them."

Although Lightbody is originally from Bangor, the band formed in Dundee while they were at university.

He said bands would "have to leave home to find the support they require unless we provide it for them".

"This is what it (the centre) is going to provide all these bands: the reason and facility to stay in Northern Ireland to live and work in Northern Ireland to make music and to bring basically prosperity culturally to Northern Ireland.

We've done an awful lot of charity work for this facility already - now it's time we got some help from government Gary Lightbody

Other patrons of the project include Radio 1's Colin Murray and Tim Wheeler from Ash, whose Oh Yeah song gives the centre its name.

Snow Patrol's last two albums have topped the charts, and Lightbody said the band had already donated funds to the centre.

"We have given an awful lot of money, we've done an awful lot of fundraising and we've done an awful lot of charity work for this facility already," he said.