If you’re a young man between the ages of 16 to 18 and have aspirations to be the next Niall Horan, you’re in luck.

Simon Cowell is coming to Dublin next month to host auditions for a new boyband.

Dublin is amongst three cities that will stage auditions – alongside Liverpool and London – as the ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ and ‘X Factor’ mogul aims to fill the boyband-shaped hole that One Direction vacated many years ago.

He told Ray D’Arcy on his RTE Radio 1 show yesterday: “I haven’t done auditions like this for a long, long time. I remember flying over to Dublin once, where I met Westlife for the first time, then the second time – and then the second time I saw them I signed them literally on the spot.

“That’s why we decided we had to put Dublin as one of the cities for doing this.

He added that the process would be filmed as part of a documentary that would “go out on one of the big streamers”.

“We did it this way because I didn’t want any safety nets,” he said. “I don’t know how the show is going to start, I don’t know how the show’s going to end. It could end with me going, ‘We didn’t find anyone!’ or we may have found more than one band. I mean, who knows?” The most important thing is you’ve got to get people to turn up. I would say to anyone who is listening, even if you don’t get into the band, auditioning is part of the process you have to go through to become a successful star.”

He added that those who audition must be able to sing, “even if you haven’t had training, if you’ve got something, we’ve got vocal coaches. We’ve got producers with us. We’ve got a lot of experienced people. So if you’ve got, you know, something – and you’ve got charisma and you’ve got personality – then just like Niall, you’re in with a shot.”