Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran may regularly attract mixed responses from the critics, but, at the age of just 26, he has already made himself a household name on both sides of the Atlantic.
Although he was born in England, the fact that his paternal grandparents were from Ireland has always strongly influenced many aspects of his hugely successful musical career.
It was announced yesterday that Sheeran is to play a series of Irish dates next year at open air venues in Belfast, Dublin, Cork and Galway.
With at least 250,000 diehard fans expected to buy tickets, he will probably not lose too much sleep if some of the reviews are less than enthusiastic.
