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By Eileen Murphy

We knew it couldn’t be easy being a pop diva. Despite all the fame, the money, your good looks and your load of celebrity friends, it’s lonely at the top. Just ask Andrea Corr, lead singer of the Irish sibling supergroup The Corrs, who has yet to meet the man of her dreams. And we’re sure we speak for single women everywhere when we say (. . . well, never mind what we single women would say to a gorgeous 24-year-old who weighs four pounds and has cheekbones that could cut glass.)

Anyway, the photogenic singer recently bemoaned her single status in an interview with the Sunday World.

"Please don’t make it sound like I’m a pathetic person, because I’ve got a lot of great friends — male friends — and I’m very happy," she said. It’s just that "I haven’t met anyone that I’ve been drawn to and if it’s not 100 percent right, I don’t think it’s worth it."

Her next words will, no doubt, be stitched on pillows by mothers everywhere.

"Ultimately, to me, sex is too sacred to be flippant about it," Andrea continued. "It’s probably an unfashionable view — not very Girl Power — but I think that, in their hearts, most women feel that way."

She conceded that her fame and success might intimidate some guys and keep them from asking her out.

"I’m sure there’s an element of that — not that they should be put off. Maybe they don’t want to ask me," she mused. "Maybe I don’t seem approachable." The Clarence: a lovely shade of red

It’s not often that we get to report financial news, so here goes: Harrumph! (and yes, that sound is a clearing of the throat). We were sorry to hear that despite its status as the hippest hotel in Ireland, The Clarence in Temple Bar suffered an operating deficit of £4.17 million last year. The upscale B&B is owned by the Brushfield Group, 75 percent of which is owned by the Not Us Company, 100 percent of which is owned by the four members of U2. The other 25 percent of the Brushfield Group is owned by Point Depot impresario Harry Crosbie.

The Clarence is considered one of Europe’s finest hotels, and houses the Tea Room restaurant and the Kitchen nightclub. Rooms start at about £200 per night, ranging up to the low 12 figures (or something) for a snore in the penthouse, but by all accounts, it’s worth it — the rooms are gorgeous, the linens extremely luxurious, and, for no additional charge (in the penthouse), Bono and the lads will personally sing you to sleep.

Our experience of the hotel has been limited to flying visits to the Tea Room and the elegant bar, where, as we told you last year, they charge £8 for cookies. But, you know, they were very nice cookies indeed. And now we understand why they cost £8.

Stand in the place where you visit

REM frontman Michael Stipe has revealed that he loves spending time in Ireland. The singer flies to Ireland whenever he can, and stays in little hotels throughout the country.

"Occasionally I would get recognized," he said. "But the people there are cool. Generally, they just say ‘Hi, Michael,’ and they don’t intrude on your privacy."

Of course, there are times when he does get hassled.

"There are [rhymes with spit] heads out there too, and especially when they have a few drinks," Stipe said. "I stay out of bars on Friday nights. Fridays and Saturdays are the worst."

So, will he be moving into the celebrity ghetto of Killiney anytime soon? Nah.

"I don’t want to be worrying about my property all over the world," Stipe said. "My opinion is, if you have enough money to buy a home in more than one place, then you have the money to go there anytime you want."Showband revival’s no jive

Well, we’ve been through the disco revival, the return of the Big 80s and the insidious subliminal brainwashing that has inspired us to purchase (and wear) bell bottoms. Swing music is so in that it’s out, and kids who weren’t even born when video killed the radio star are running around jumpin’ jivin’ (then, of course, they wail). So could anyone have doubted that the showband redux was far behind?

Yes, it’s true. The newest craze to hit Ireland is the renewed interest in the showband music of the 1960s and ’70s. The hippest of the hepcats aren’t the teenagers who are forming those all-boy or all-girl bands like Men2B or CHICenz (note: you’ll have to guess which of those names is made up). The truly with-it adolescents are doing the Hucklebuck and bopping to the sounds of the Showband Show, fronted by the brother and sister team of Keith and Lorriane McDonald.

The Showband Show is enjoying great success touring throughout Ireland, and their first single, "The Hucklebuck/Are You Teasing Me?" spent several weeks on the Irish record charts. The band dresses in snazzy uniforms like their showband forebears, and features music made popular by Brendan Bowyer, Tom Dunphy, Butch Moore and the rest.

The McDonald siblings are uniquely suited — one might almost say, predestined — to spearhead the showband revival. Their father, Frankie, is a member of Joe Dolan’s Drifters.

"It’s amazing that this success is happening all over again because we’re a young band," Keith said. "The other incredible thing is that we are now one of the top three bands in the country — and my dad is in the No. 1 band with Joe Dolan."

We must confess that we’ve always had a secret soft spot for showband music, and have been known to mix Black 47 and Declan Nerney on the same car tunes tape. And we’re intrigued by the news that the S/S plans a super league tour in April which will feature a guest appearance by Brendan Bowyer. We can only hope they make it over to New York. We’re already practicing our jivin’ moves . . .