World Oyster Opening Championship

GALWAY - Ireland was the proud winner on Saturday of the 2006 World Oyster Opening Championship, beating off competition from 17 other countries to open 30 oysters in the fastest time.

At 2 minutes 35 seconds, Irish restaurateur Michael Moran was five seconds ahead of Sweden's Hasse Johannesson and 46 seconds faster than Britain's Frederick Lindford.

"It's just great to bring it home for Ireland," said Moran, whose father Willie took the title twice in the 1970s and whose time of 1 minute 31 seconds is unbeaten. "I put in a big effort and it paid off -- I can't believe it," Moran, 23, said.

The secret, he said, was a steady hand with the oyster knife.

"It has to be a smooth movement or you risk crunching the shell and then you get points taken off for grit," he said.

It was the first win for Ireland in 10 years but the country's 15th overall in the four-decade history of the competition, which has long been a major feature of the Galway Oyster Festival, now in its 52nd year.

"He was a bold man that first ate an oyster," observed 18th century Irish writer Jonathan Swift, and by that measure there were a lot of bold men -- and women -- gathered in the mediaeval "City of the Tribes" on Ireland's rugged west coast on Saturday.

"We reckon there are around 12,000 people here this year and they'll scoff somewhere in the region of 100,000 oysters in the four days of the festival," said organiser John Rabbitt.

The festival draws visitors from around the world, as much for the Irish "craic" -- dancing and drinking -- as for the oysters, which mollusc aficionados say derive a distinctive sweetness from Ireland's Atlantic waters.

"I've had more oysters than I've eaten in my life," said first-time British visitor Michael Codrington.

"At least 50 -- all washed down with a lot of Guinness."

The festival, dreamt up by a Galway hotelier to mark the start of the oyster season -- and drum up post-summer business -- has seen its share of famous visitors over the years.

In 1960, U.S. film director John Huston dropped by and in 1993 comedian Bob Hope delighted the crowd with a rendition of "Thanks for the Memories" in the city's main square.

This year the event is expected to generate around 7 million euros (4.7 million pounds) for the local economy.