Four Irish writers have made the longlist for the world's most valuable literary prize for a single work of fiction.

There's an all-Ireland focus on the 2010 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award as two writers from the South and two from the North have made the list.

Irish author Sebastian Barry is among the favourites to clinch the prestigious prize, worth €100,000, for his book ‘The Secret Scripture'.

‘Netherland', by Joseph O'Neill, is also nominated.

From Northern Ireland, David Park has been nominated for ‘The Truth Commissioner' and Deirdre Madden for ‘Molly Fox's Birthday'.

Later today, Dublin Lord Mayor Emer Costello will announce that 156 titles have been nominated to the longlist for the 2010 IMPAC.

The award is run by Dublin City Libraries and the international management consultancy IMPAC.

The IMPAC is unique among literary prizes because the nominations come from libraries around the world, thus giving a voice to ordinary readers rather than critics.

The nominations this year came come from 163 libraries in 123 cities worldwide.

The full list can be viewed on www.impacdublinaward.ie

The longlist includes entries like 2008 Man Booker winner Aravind Adiga's ‘The White Tiger' and big names like Philip Roth, Salman Rushdie, Peter Carey, Kate Atkinson, Zoe Heller and Toni Morrison.

The shortlist for the 2010 IMPAC will be announced next April and the winner will be revealed in June next year.