The chart is based on music legally downloaded from the internet.

Many predict it will spell the end of the traditional top 40 and hasten the demise of High Street record shops.

But although the download chart represents the future of the music industry, it was a re-released track from 1999 which claimed the top spot.

Westlife re-issued 'Flying Without Wings' especially for the occasion and fans downloaded it in their thousands to help the band secure a place in chart history.

The Irish boyband outsold the likes of Blazin' Squad, Maroon 5 and Keane.

The chart was counted down on Radio 1 during the Scott Mills Show and will be broadcast from 6pm-7pm every Wednesday.

It is compiled on the basis of tracks legally downloaded from online sites including iTunes and Napster.

Their download sales data is transmitted daily to an independent market research company for the purposes of compiling the chart.

More than two million tracks have been legally downloaded since January.

The arrival of Apple's iTunes, where songs are available for as little as €1.20 each, has fuelled demand.

The scale of the download market is vast when compared with the traditional singles market.

Hundreds of fans jetted into Dublin from all over Europe for the Point concerts, and many of them took the opportunity to journey to Sligo to see the birthplace of and local landmarks associated with Shane Filan, Mark Feehily and Kian Egan.

Kristina Johansson, Andre Karlsson and Anna Johansson made the journey from Sweden, and were very excited to be in the home town of Westlife.

"We came over for the Dublin concert and decided that since we were in Ireland we could not go home without visiting Sligo, where Westlife began", explained Kristina.

"We have been to see the homes of Shane and Kian, and we have been told that Mark once worked in a local pizza shop, so now we're off to track that down".

Andre revealed that Westlife enjoy a huge following in his home country, and said it was special to be able to see the band perform in Dublin while also being able to visit Sligo.

"It would be a real bonus to meet the boys or members of their families, but just to be here and to see the places associated with the band is a real thrill", he said.

Another visitor on a Westlife trek to Sligo this week was 30 years old Shinobu Ishihara, who travelled all the way from Osaka, Japan, especially to sample the Westlife roots at first hand.

She had bought tickets on the internet for three of the Dublin concerts, and travelled by train to Sligo on Friday last.

"I just had to come and see where Westlife started", she said. "The band has a huge following in Japan, and I had no hesitation in making the long journey just to see them perform and to see where they were born", Shinobu told us before booking a taxi to take her off in search of Westlife landmarks.

A Scottish family were particularly lucky, as their excursion brought them face to face with two of their heroes.

Kevin Flannery of The Record Room, which has itself become an essential drop-in centre for the visiting Westlife fans, tells the story: "A mother and her two teenage daughters were in the shop asking where they might go to see some Westlife landmarks, so I gave them a list of places worth seeing. They took a taxi out to see Shane's new house at Carraroe, and as they were there, Shane pulled up in his car, got out and chatted to them, signed autographs and posed for pictures.

"They must have thought they were in heaven, but it got even better, because when they went out to see Kian Egan's family home, Kian came out to greet them as well.

"They came to the shop the next day to tell me how they got on, and they were absolutely thrilled. It was clearly an amazing experience for them".

Not all fans are so lucky, of course, but it doesn't stop them coming to Sligo. According to Mr. Flannery, who keeps a record of the visits to his store of Westlife followers, there is a definite tourism opening attached to the group's association with Sligo.

"In the past month alone, we've had Westlife fans here from Scotland, England, Wales, Japan, Germany, Holland and the USA, as well as from all over Ireland.

"They buy anything associated with the group, and they all want directions to places such as St. Anne's Youth Club, where the boys played their first gig as Westlife, or the Hawk's Well where IOYou performed, and, of course, they all want to see the family homes.

It was the first Dublin date for the group since local boy McFadden's shock announcement last March that he would no longer feature in Ireland's favourite chart-topping outfit.

It made little difference though to the near capacity crowd that jammed the Point for another taste of the musical magic that has delivered 12 number one singles and five multi-platinum albums.

With 480,000 tickets sold for their current tour, just 24 people are reported to have inquired about a ticket refund since the news of Brian's untimely departure, signifying a healthy future for the group.

The reliable contingent of young fans were keen to welcome the fab four and as they arrived on stage a deafening eruption of screams signalled Westlife's days are far from numbered.

Brian's departure did little to dampen the mood for 12-year-old Acerina who said: "I think they will be just as good without Brian, as good as always."

Appearing in gangster outfits Cian, Shane, Mark and Nicky were an entertaining centre piece to a show defined by colour and adrenaline.

Opening with crowd-pleaser 'Turnaround', the boys sent a bolt of electricity through the crowd in a promising taste of what awaits the thousands of fans said to witness the 10 dates at the famous Dublin venue.

Fans surged towards the stage in a bid to catch a glimpse of their heroes singing favourites 'My Girl', 'Swears Again' and 'Mandy'.

The group were also keen to snuff out touts with black market tickets advertised at over 10 times their face value before the gigs.

As the four remaining members of Westlife play a series of sell-out gigs in Dublin next week, there will be three people who will perhaps think again of what might have been. Michael Garrett, Derek Lacey, and Graham Keighron are the Westlife boys who never were - original band members whose services were disposed of before the group made it big.

The three lads are now a trainee hairdresser, barman and a trainee garda - and their stories are told in a new book by Padraig Meehan, the band's unofficial manager during its formative period.

Today Westlife are one of the country's most successful pop exports and have sold more than 30 million albums.

Despite Bryan McFadden's departure earlier this year, the remaining four - Sligo natives Shane Filan, Mark Feehily and Kian Egan, and Dubliner Nicky Byrne - continue to perform as Westlife, playing sold-out shows across Europe.

But McFadden isn't the only member to have left the band. Original Sligo members Garrett, Lacey and Keighron were shown the door by newly-appointed manager Louis Walsh - the mastermind behind Boyzone.

Karaoke No More: The Real Story of the Beginning of Westlife purports to tell the warts-and-all history of the band's pre-fame days.

The book documents how six school friends set about forming an all-singing, all-dancing boyband that could be Ireland's answer to the Backstreet Boys.

The band got together in 1997 after Filan, Feehily and Egan had been in a local production of Grease. Encouraged by the director, Mary McDonogh, the three joined forces with classmates Michael Garrett, Derek Lacey and Graham Keighron and started playing covers at local clubs and supermarkets. The sextet, initially known by such monikers as Six As One, IOU and IOYOU, became something of a fixture in the north-west and recorded a demo, Together Girl Forever, co-written by Filan and Feehily.

At that stage the band were looked after by Meehan, McDonogh and another local, Averyl Dooher, who had formed a company called Streetwise. But when Streetwise drafted a potential contract, IOU refused to sign it.

The band, and their parents, had bigger ambitions: Louis Walsh was firmly in their sights.

It was Shane Filan's mother, Mae, who made contact with Walsh. She hoped that the fact that she also came from Kiltimagh, Co Mayo, would get her a sympathetic ear. Walsh agreed to meet the band and was impressed by their enthusiasm.

He organised for them to support the Backstreet Boys at the RDS Simmonscourt Arena.

Walsh saw something that encouraged him to manage the band.

Ronan Keating, Boyzone's ambitious frontman, was invited on board as co-manager. It was a euphoric moment for the sextet, but the joy would be short-lived.

Walsh, it transpired, didn't think Lacey fitted in with the band - and it was up to Filan to tell him he was out. Lacey was devastated. His mother rang Louis Walsh and the manager told her he thought her son was too mature-looking and was unable to dance.

"Derek stays indoors for days," writes Padraig Meehan. "He can't bear to see anyone. Later on he will get used to the jibes. Shelflife. No life. Now he is in grief. He feels totally isolated. His friends have moved on and left him behind."

Meehan describes how angry and upset he, McDonogh and Dooher were. Westlife had moved on without them, and they could only watch.

"I was deeply disappointed when the band went off to be managed by Louis Walsh, after the amount of work that Mary and Averyl and I did with them. But when I thought about it, it was obvious that Mae Filan's decision to get in touch with Louis was a wise and pragmatic business move."

But for the five remaining members, an important day loomed: a 'showcase' in Dublin's Westbury Hotel, which would be attended by BMG head Simon Cowell - not yet the household name he would become as a judge on Pop Idol. Cowell didn't like the band. In particular, he didn't like Shane Filan's look. Walsh knew the band would have to be tinkered with again. Keighron was the next to go. He became their road manager for a while. With only four members remaining, auditions were held for a fifth member.

Nicky Byrne and Bryan McFadden both impressed Walsh, and both were asked to stay to see who got on best with the band, but the Sligo guys got on so well with the two Dubliners that Walsh found he couldn't choose between them.

He wanted a five-piece rather than a sextet, however - and so decided that one of the Sligo singers would have to go. Michael Garrett went, and it was Graham Keighron who ended up telling him. Meehan reports that Garrett hung around for a few days afterwards, totally morose. He had effectively been replaced by people he had helped to audition.

Louis Walsh has described axing the three as the most difficult decision he has had to make in his time in management.

None of the three former members of the band wishes to speak on the subject any more. According to Padraig Meehan, Lacey, Garrett and Keighron have no contact with the three who went on to fame, and rarely see each other now either. Shortly after Westlife first broke, Lacey spoke of his anger when he saw the boys flaunting expensive jewellery, clothes and cars. At times, he said in an interview, he felt the impulse to "go ballistic some night, let it all out". But he resisted.

Everybody knows what happened to Shane Filan, Mark Feehily and Kian Egan. But what of the other three?

Keighron abandoned the road manager job and returned to Sligo to become a dance teacher. He is now a trainee hairdresser. Garrett did a bit of modelling, went to college and is now training to be a garda. Last year his name was linked to a part in Coronation Street, but it never materialised. Lacey now works as a barman in the town.

The band made their last appearance together yesterday at a press conference at the rather grand Four Seasons Hotel in Dublin to announce the departure of the 24-year-old from the group.

However, the show will go on and a statement released by Westlife read that "in the tradition of all great groups, they are now a four-piece".

Yesterday they announced that while they are "devastated" by Bryan's decision, they have come to terms with it. It was an amicable split, they said.

Bryan told how he had made his decision in order to spend more time with his wife Kerry and their two daughters.

He said he was unhappy for the last six months and, especially since the birth of his daughter Lily, felt he was not committing 100pc to either the band or to his family and it was was becoming very hard to juggle both.

He had been "thinking it through" for the past six months and had informed his Westlife colleagues following last week's Meteor Awards.

"The guys want me to be happy," he added.

Visibly emotional and in shaky tones, Kian Egan read a statement on behalf of the group saying that since their launch in 1999, they have had a very special close bond and are more like brothers than band-mates.

Crying and hugging one another at the back of the room, Bryan's wife Kerry stood with fellow 'Westlife Wives' Club' members - the Taoiseach's daughter, Georgina Ahern who is married to Nicky Byrne, and Gillian Walsh, who is married to Shane Filan.

"Westlife are now united as four and are just confirming plans for their next studio album after their World Arena tour, scheduled for release something this autumn," Kian added.

The next record will be an album of duets with global superstars, including Diana Ross and Lionel Richie, manager Louis Walsh revealed.

Bryan will be missed but Westlife will continue and it is basically "business as usual", he said. Rumours abound that Bryan plans to further his songwriting career. There's even talk that he and Kerry have been offered a joint TV deal by celebrity producer Simon Cowell.

Only Westlife stand in the way of Andre reaching the top spot in Britain, with their new single Obvious.

First day sales figures show that Andre's single has been flying off the shelves in British record stores - eight years after it first hit the charts.

The star's career has been revived by his appearance on I'm A Celebrity . . . Get Me Out Of Here! and his relationship with fellow contestant Jordan.

"Mysterious Girl has been selling very strongly so far," said Gennaro Castaldo, of music retailer HMV.