At this stage they had the idea of working together as a duo, playing easy listening music with traditional Irish instrumentals.

When their UK tour finished, they decided to let the band return to Ireland whilst they stayed behind to try to break into the public eye.

They played several venues in the London area and the reaction was favourable; they decided to remain as a duo, and Foster and Allen was formed.

[1] This made an impact on the Irish market and Foster and Allen were soon in demand for cabaret venues all over Ireland.

At the end of 1979, Foster and Allen released the single, "A Bunch of Thyme" in Ireland, and it entered the Irish chart.

Despite the romance and charm of the music and lyrics the song is in reality a warning to young women to protect their virginity.

The girl in the song loses her virginity to a "lusty sailor who chanced to pass her way, he stole her bunch of thyme away".

Foster and Allen have toured Ireland, the UK, the US, Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

In the early days, Mick Foster and Tony Allen performed on stage as a duo, but in 1982 (when the concert tours started) they added a band to their show, thus giving a much fuller sound to their program.

To date, Foster and Allen have achieved album and video sales in excess of 25 million worldwide.

Their "World Concert Tour – 2005/2006" took them to the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa, Ireland, US and Australia.

Foster was taught to play the accordion by a Sr Anges Murray, a nun of the Mercy Order in Ballymahon and Frankie Gavigan.

He has recorded a tribute to the latter, entitled The Old Button Box, and has claimed that his accordion would probably be the last thing he would be prepared to give up Allen was born on 24 February 1952 in Mount Temple, County Westmeath, the youngest of a family of nine children.