Ex-Snow Patrol member sues band

By Bryce McGarel
BBC News

Co-founder Mark McClelland was asked to leave the band

Former Snow Patrol bassist Mark McClelland is suing the band he helped to found.

McClelland, 31, has issued a writ at the High Court in London seeking 25% of the band's earnings since he was dismissed in March 2005.

He is seeking a share of the royalties from the 2006 album Eyes Open and money from when the band supported U2 on their Vertigo world tour.

He claims he was unlawfully dismissed by his ex-bandmates.

Last month, Snow Patrol played in front of 30,000 fans in lead singer Gary Lightbody's hometown of Bangor.

They also played at the Oxegen music festival outside Dublin in July.

The band formed in 1994 when McClelland and Gary Lightbody met as students at Dundee University.

Lightbody is now reported to be the second-highest earning Irish musician of the past year - behind U2's Bono.

The group first achieved mainstream success with the single Run and award-winning album Final Straw, which was released in 2003.

Their follow-up album Eyes Open topped the album charts in both the UK and Ireland.

It has now been on the UK album chart for 71 weeks, and is currently at number 11 well over a year after its release.