Sinead O'Connor 'to wed'

Sinead O'Connor: 'Delighted' with engagement

Sinead O'Connor is to marry her boyfriend, British journalist Nick Sommerlad.

Sommerlad, 27, proposed to the Irish pop singer some two weeks previously. They have been going out since February.

Yes, we are getting married. We have not got any firm dates for it yet. I am delighted and so is she.

Nick Sommerlad

Sommerlad, working in Dublin for the Press Association, told the Irish Sun: "Yes, we are getting married. We have not got any firm dates for it yet."

"I am delighted and so is she," Sommerlad added.

Private

Sommerlad, 27, a distant relative of Queen Silvia of Sweden, said he met 34-year-old mother of two Sinead only months ago but fell in love very quickly: "A journalist friend of mine and hers introduced us. We have been going out since February."

Sommerlad said: "I asked Sinead to marry me a couple of weeks ago, but I'd rather not say how because it's a private thing."

Born in Dublin in 1966, O'Connor had a difficult upbringing. Her parents divorced when she was eight years old, and she said that her mother, killed in a 1985 car crash, abused her.

Expelled from Catholic school, she was then put in a boarding school. At the age of 15, while singing at a wedding, she was spotted by drummer Paul Byrne of In Tua Nua, an Irish band acknowledged as an influence on U2.

Controversial

O'Connor left boarding school to in order to focus on a career in music. In 1986 she made her recorded debut on the soundtrack of The Captive, with U2's The Edge.

Frank Sinatra: Incensed by O'Connor's behaviour on US tour

O'Connor was possibly the most controversial singer of the 1990s. In America, Frank Sinatra threatened to "kick her ass" when she refused to perform in New Jersey if the American national anthem was played.

She also tore up a picture of the Pope during an appearance on a US chat show, and declared herself gay.

O'Connor has had relationships with a number of journalists in the past. She recently split from diarist Dermot Hayes, her boyfriend of two years.

Prior to that she was in a relationship with Irish Times columnist John Waters, who fathered five year old daughter, Roisin.

She has been married once before, to writer John Reynolds with whom she has a 13 year old son, Jake.