If you were on Grafton Street just the other day, you would have seen just how far busking can take a career.

Former Grafton Street busker - and now globally-successful musician - Dermot Kennedy returned to his roots to serenade the masses from the balcony of Bewley's to celebrate the release of his new album ‘Sonder'.

Now, Three are launching a new initiative designed to help the most talented buskers on the streets of cities and towns around Ireland make the leap from street to stage.

City Stages will launch in Limerick this Saturday, and is designed to support the next generation of Irish musicians, currently performing on city streets, to progress their careers to the biggest stages in the country.

Those chosen to perform will be given their own dedicated performance slot, as well as recorded content of their performance. They'll also gain access to a series of mentoring masterclasses led by a panel of Irish music industry professionals (including 2FM's Tracy Clifford and God Knows/MuRli from Narolane, pictured) - and they'll have the opportunity to support some of the biggest Irish and international stars in venues like the 3Olympia and 3Arena, too.

The launch takes place on Saturday, November 26th at 12pm at the Three store on Limerick's Cruises Street, with a special headline artist TBA - but will tour Ireland nationwide in the coming months. If you'd like to apply to play, see here for more details.