Scruffy Murphy's in Sydney has been voted as the Irish Pub of the Year for 2010 by our readers.

One of Australia’s biggest and best known Irish bars, Scruffy Murphy’s, have taken out the Irish Echo Pub of the Year Award for 2010 for the very first time.

The Sydney bar topped the Irish Echo’s online poll with 855 votes, holding off the challenge of Paddington bar and inaugural winners Durty Nellys, and Fiddlers Green on the Gold Coast.

Amazingly, this is the first time the well-known Sydney CBD haunt has ever won the award which has been handed out since 1999, and Scruffy’s duty manager Darren Price from Tipperary spoke of his delight upon learning his pub had secured the top prize.

“We’re absolutely delighted,” Darren said. “We put a lot of work into this over the last few weeks, and a lot of people really got behind us so it’s great to have won it.

“We rallied around in the last week in particular and everybody really chipped in. We could see Durty Nellies and Fiddlers Green creeping up on us towards the end there, but we’re delighted to have hung on and won it. And to win it for the first time as well makes it that extra bit special.”

One lucky Scruffy’s voter will win themselves a $1,000 bar tab, and that winner will be announced tomorrow morning in the bar.