X Factor’s Eoghan Quigg and Northern Irish band Snow Patrol could do the double for Northern Ireland this weekend by reaching number one in the single and album charts.

The young Dungiven man is the opening singer on the charity track Hero, which is set to become the biggest selling single release of the decade.

The single, recorded for Help for Heroes, a charity that provides support for wounded servicemen and women, is fast on the way to hitting the top spot in the charts.

And there’s another local twist to the tale as the Hero track, a remake of the Mariah Carey hit, will knock Nadine Coyle and the rest of Girls Aloud of the top spot, currently number one with The Promise.

Gennaro Castaldo of HMV said: “Hero is proving to be one of the biggest single releases for years, if not the decade.

“Only Leona Lewis' debut hit A Moment Like This, which sold over 500,000 copies in its first week, can compare.

“Further to this, HMV is delighted to announce that it will donate all proceeds from the sale of the X Factor's Hero CD single to the Help For Heroes Fund and to the British Legion Poppy Appeal.

Meanwhile Snow Patrol are sitting in second place in the UK album charts with A Hundred Million Suns.

The album - the band’s fifth - was released on Monday. The current number one is AC/DC’s Black Ice, although Pink’s new album Funhouse is also in the running.

Gennaro said: “A Hundred Million Suns' will definitely give Pink a run for her money in the race for this week’s number one position in the album charts.

“Snow Patrol are in the enviable position of having a hug fan base and getting frequent exposure through use of their songs on shows such as the X-Factor.

“One Hundred Million Suns’ has already proved itself to be quite a daring record with an epic final song lasting sixteen minutes and this could work well for the band, attracting new fans curious to hear how their sound has developed. it will be interesting to see how it does over the coming weeks with the second single.”