For Bono and Ali, babies are ‘the sweetest thing’

U2 lead singer Bono and his wife, Ali Hewson, have announced that they are expecting a baby.

The couple, both 38, who met when both attended Mount Temple School in North Dublin, have been married for 19 years and have two children, Jordan, 10 and Memphis Eve, 8.

The baby news comes as something of a surprise to the couple’s friends, since Ali spent _200 at a charity auction a few years back on a gift for the hubby — a vasectomy (which lends new meaning to the phrase, ‘give ’til it hurts’). But, apparently, it was one of those gifts you stick in the back of the closet until you can pass it on to someone else . . .

In more U2 news, we hear that Bono received a special award at last week’s Brit Music Awards. The singer was honored for his work with “Jubilee 2000,” a caolition whose goal is to convince the world’s richest countries to write off the debt of the world’s poorest countries by the year 2000.

And those of you who’ve gone just long enough without a glimpse of your favoritest rock star can catch him on this week’s Grammy telecast, where he’ll perform with “Lean on Me” with gospel artist Kirk Franklin and hip hop diva Mary K. Blige.

Move over, Madonna

We were happy to hear that the Corrs won the award for best International Group at last week’s Brit Awards. But given their wholesome image, were were a bit surprised at the behavior of lead singer and youngest sibling Andrea – the group’s main sex symbol, according to an informal poll we conducted among the Echo’s male staff.

We hear that Andrea, no doubt overcome with excitement at having won the coveted prize (the award, not the Echo vote) flashed a bit of – how do we say this? – naked bosom. In front of the audience and the cameras and her parents and everybody. Of course, the Echo guys are looking for a copy of the tape. Down, boys!

Gerry’s spread

Eventually, we suppose, everyone who is anyone winds up on the pages of Playboy magazine. And some even manage to keep their clothes on, though it can be argued that they expose themselves in other ways.

Take Gerry Adams, who was recently interviewed by the men’s mag. We hear — from people who swear, on stacks of bibles, that they only buy Playboy for the articles, that they didn’t even know there were pictures of nekkid women in there — that the president of Sinn FTin was “almost disappointed” that he was not awarded the Nobel Peace Prize along with John Hume and David Trimble. Not that he’s “dwelt on it much,” though . . .

Adams takes issue with the idea that he’s become a celebrity in recent years. “I don’t own an Armani suit,” he declares. “And I met Bianca Jagger once.”

We hate to break it to you, Gerry, but lots of people don’t own Armani suits. And many of us will go through life meeting Bianca Jagger even less than once. But not everyone gets interviewed by Playboy. For that, you have to be a celeb . . . well, you know.

Picture perfect

Reports that former tennis ace John McEnroe was closing his SoHo art gallery were premature, to say the least. We hear that, though the hours have been cut back, the gallery is very much open. We also hear that McEnroe has scored a coup by purchasing a motherlode of original movie art that dates back 40 years.

Collectors out in Hollywood are scratching at McEnroe’s door to get their hands on original oil paintings of stars like Michael Caine and Diana (Call her Miss) Ross. The artwork was used in creating movie posters, and has great value to the celebrities and all those deep-pocketed movie buffs out there.

Cher and share alike

Pop diva Cher, who’s long been an admirer of good looking young men, thinks Boyzone’s Ronan Keating is just peachy. The two met recently when Ronan presented Cher with an award during an appearance at London’s posh department store Harrod’s.

“He’s so mature for his age,” Cher told a reporter approvingly. “It’s great when pop stars are like that, not trashing hotel rooms. That’s so tired.”

Of course, it’s nice for Ronan to have Cher’s approval, but before the squeaky clean Ronan goes and has her quote stitched on a pillow, he might want to check out his admirer’s video, “If I Could Turn Back Time” video. You remember — the one where Cher wears almost nothing as she serenades a ship full of sailors, as she displays her tattooed Derry Air . . .

My(kinda)town

Really, you can’t swing a cat in Ireland anymore without hitting someone who’s in an all-boy or all-girl pop group. It seems Irish people just can’t get enough of bright-eyes adolescents who dress alike and can (more or less) warble a tune.

The latest entry in this fast-growing field is Mytown, which is made up of four boyos from Dublin: Terry Daly, 20, Paul Walker, 21, Mark Sheen, 22, and Danny O’Donogue, 18. The band, which sprung from the same fertile ground which yielded international stars Boyzone, B*Witched and OTT, left Ireland last year to try their luck in Amerikay.

The band was signed by Universal after wowing the crowd at an industry showcase in Las Vegas. Their new single, “Party All Night,” will be released in Ireland this week.

So, what sets Mytown apart from other Clearasil cuties?

“We have a guitar influence under the R&B and pop groove,” Daly told the Sunday World. “We have developed a nice Mytown sound.”

It helps, of course, that all of the Mytownies play instruments, and that they’ve got great producers working with them.

“The amount of big names actually collaborating with us on the album is amazing,” Daly said. “People who have produced the likes of Mariah Carey . . . but the songs are ours and we have created our own sound.”

Of course, this Fab Four has its own Pete Best-type member. (And for those of you with short memories: Best was one of the original Beatles, who was canned and replaced by Ringo Starr right before the band became a worldwide phenomena.)

Original Mytown member Tony Dunne bailed out of the band shortly before they were signed by the record company, to pursue a career in boxing.

“We do feel sorry for poor old Tony,” said Daly. “But we all make decisions in our lives. Some work for us and some work against us.”