New & Noteworthy Sinead’s new man has the write stuff

By Eileen Murphy

You may not know it, but ink-stained wretches are hot these days. Don’t believe us? Just look at Sharon Stone, who married the newspaper editor — the one with the toes no komodo dragon can resist — Phil Bronstein.

Now we hear that Irish singer/sometime priest Sinead O’Connor has fallen hard for a member of the Fourth Estate. The iconoclastic singer, 34, has announced that she’s head over heels in love with 27 year-old journalist Nick Sommerlad.

Sinead obviously likes to hear the soothing clickety-click of a word processor. The singer has been linked with a number of writers, most notably Irish Times columnist John Waters, the father of her daughter, Rosin. The Sunday Independent reports that Sinead was introduced to Sommerlad by a mutual friend who was, naturally, himself a writer.

The pair are reportedly quite committed, and are planning to tie the knot next summer. Sinead’s friends are already whispering that she is more in love with Sommerlad than she’s been with anyone else in her life, and that the couple plans on having "loads of children."

It’s been a long road to Tipperary

Quick! Lock up the . . . well, we’re not exactly sure what to lock up. The news is that notorious bad boy rocker Shane MacGowan has settled down in the village of Silvermones, Co. Tipperary. Citizens, use your own judgment.

The former Pogues front man, whose hard-living lifestyle and brash exterior hide the soul of a poet, has made what he says is his final move.

"I will stay here for the rest of my life," the 43-year-old MacGowan told the Sunday World.

"This has always been my home. However far I wander, this is where I belong."

MacGowan, who spent much of his childhood in Ireland before his family moved to London, says that he inherited his musical talent from his mother’s side of the family.

"My grandmother — all the Lynches — were musical and my mum is a Lynch," he said. "That is where I get it from.

"I am a modern Irish dance band leader and bar singer and a writer."

MacGowan’s legendary hard-man reputation was enhanced a few months back when he and a music journalist wound up in a punching match during an interview. His recent battles with the press stem, he says, from the "rough ride" he’s been given by music scribes.

"They give me loads of bad publicity. Bad publicity is great," he said.

"I love any publicity. So if they think that I am an awful person and want to keep writing about it all the time, that means I am in the papers all the time, on the telly all the time, on the radio all the time.

"I don’t get upset — my parents get upset. [And] being Irish, you have friends and relations all over the world, and . . . they read in the paper that you are at death’s door because you are drinking 18 gallons of rat poison a day. How many years have [the press] been saying, ‘that guy is going to be dead in a year’?"

Art for art’s sake

If someone offers to sell you a shirt with a drawing and Bono’s signature on it, don’t be so quick to laugh him off.

The New Post’s Page Six reports that Bono was in town last week for a party at the Tony Shafrazi Gallery in NYC. The honoree was his good friend Guggi, former Virgin Prune and current abstract painter. Later, in the street, Bono was approached by a homeless man who asked him for some money. Bono didn’t have any cash on him, so he drew a picture on the guy’s shirt and signed it.Another one bites the dust

Sorry, guys — after Saturday, there will only be two Corr sisters on the world’s Most Eligible Bachelorette list. As we warned you months ago, Caroline Corr will tie the knot in her hometown this weekend with her barrister boyfriend, Gavin Bonner.

The ceremony and reception sites are a closely guarded secret (to avoid a paparazzi rush) so the 200 guests won’t be told the details until the very last minute. Seems a bit cloak-and-dagger for Dundalk (which isn’t all that big, now, is it?), but we suppose the girl is entitled to a bit of privacy.

Actually, it’s easy being green

Donnachada Daly created a monster. And we think he should be very, very proud of himself.

Actually, his creation is less a monster than an ogre — a big, green, short-tempered ogre named Shrek who’s stomped his way into the hearts of movie audiences around the world as the title character of the year’s biggest blockbuster. Daly, a 31-year-old Dubliner, was the head animator on the Dreamworks Studio release.

Daly credits the success of the film, which features the voices of Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz and Eddie Murphy, on its "cheeky" tone.

"It has an edge," he said. "It’s not a cutesy-cutesy film. It works on so many different levels."

Daly spent years at Dreamworks helping develop the film’s main characters. Like many animators of his generation, he learned his craft at the now-defunct Sullivan Bluth studios in Dublin, famous for "An American Tail" and "All Dogs Go to Heaven."

"It was a wonderful training and a fabulous grounding," Daly said.

He’s still Bond, James Bond

In a cliffhanger worthy of the suave spy himself, Irish actor Pierce Brosnan has reached an agreement with "Bond" movie producers and will drink his martinis shaken, not stirred, "for the foreseeable future."

The handsome actor, who has played the super spy in three films to date, will definitely star in the next Bond vehicle, which will start production early next year. Producers Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli deny reports that they have begun a search for Brosnan’s successor.

Madonna, Robbie for Live Aid 2001?

Rumors are rife that original "Live Aid" co-organizer Midge Ure — who played a key role in helping Bob Geldof set up the seminal 1985 concert — is planning a similar show to benefit the Red Hot AIDS Charitable Trust.

The show, which has been penciled in at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium in October, is said to include such stellar acts as Madonna, Robbie Williams and George Michael. Instead of singing their hits, the performers will sing songs from Broadway musicals like "Evita," "Showboat" and "Les Miz." Nothing’s confirmed yet, but watch this space.

Lennon to fly high in Liverpool

Quick: what do John Lennon, John F. Kennedy and Charles de Gaulle have in common?

If you guessed that each has had an airport named after him, go to the head of the class.

The owners of the airport in Lennon’s birthplace of Liverpool have decided to honor the town’s most famous son by naming the hub after him. Liverpool John Lennon Airport will feature a self-portrait of Lennon along with the words, "Above us only sky," from his most famous song, "Imagine."

Flatley, flame, split

It’s official: "Feet of Flames" star Michael Flatley and his on-again, off-again girlfriend Lisa Murphy are off-again — and this time, it sounds like it’s for good.

Michael, who’s currently touring the United States in his "FOF" swan song, told friends that the relationship is "no longer an issue" in his life. This is no doubt a bummer for Murphy, who has said that she’s "dying to have children" with the hunky dancer.

Flatley has also denied rumors that he’s constantly shadowed by ex-FBI agents as protection from obsessed fans, though we hear that he is surrounded by burly bodyguards. He told the Sunday Independent that he’s "shrouded by security now."

"I’m not allowed to stop after the shows anymore to talk to fans — which is a real pity because I loved that."

Though Michael may not be able to mix with the hoi polloi, his minders didn’t object when he rubbed shoulders with the likes of Arnold Schwartzenegger and Robert De Niro at the after-show party in Fitzpatrick’s Manhattan Hotel last Friday night.

Flatley was thrilled by the reception his troupe received at his Madison Square garden and Meadowlands.

"I’m proud that this show is Irish and that we got to showcase such talent in New York," he enthused.

"As far as I’m concerned, this is the highlight of the tour."

Michael has confirmed, however, that this tour will be his last.

"I’m retiring from dancing," the 43-year-old star told the Sunday World.

"I feel I’m at the top of my game, but it’s time for something different," he said. "At this stage, it takes too much out of me to get fit for these shows."

Briefings

The big event is still two months away, but we hear that Westlife’s Bryan McFadden and his fiance, ex-Atomic Kitten Kelly Katroina, have some exciting baby news. According to the News of the World, the pair have been telling pals that the little pop-star-to-be who’s at present sitting on mommy’s kidneys is a girl. Which just means there will be more yellow baby clothes available for everyone else.

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We’re not sure if this is a bit of corporate synergy or a case of putting the oldsters on an ice floe and cutting them adrift. We hear that Louis Walsh’s new pop group, the extremely photogenic Bellefire, has been sniping that their pop predecessors, the Walsh-managed Boyzone, had "very little talent." Saucer of milk, table twooooo . . .

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One loyal reader took issue with our coverage of Oasis’ 10th anniversary celebrations.

"You obviously don’t appreciate Liam’s brilliance as a songwriter and as a throwback to the glory days of Jim Morrison," he said to our answering machine. Hmmm . . . didn’t Morrison get arrested on suspicion of introducing, er, little Jim to a Florida concert audience? Liam just spits and flips the bird.

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Harry Potter might have been the plum film role for preteen actors this year, but the Irish kid who plays his on-screen best mate is also in hot demand.

Twelve-year-old Devon Murray, best known for his role as young Malachy McCourt in the big-screen version of "Angela’s Ashes," has been cast as Potter’s clumsy best pal, Seamus. Work on the sorcerer’s tale has kept him so busy that he’s turned down the part of the young Leo DiCaprio in Martin Scorsese’s "Gangs of New York."