John already manages Damien Dempsey and Lumiere - the band that features the Dingle duo of Pauline Scanlon and Eilish Kennedy. He is well known as Sinéad O'Connor's long-time collaborator and was involved in the production of Universal Mother and Faith and Courage.

The news comes as Andrea prepares for the release of her new album – a project which will cast her in a very different light to her work with The Corrs.

"We have just finished an album which sounds great," John says. "It's a covers album – but one with a difference, with songs from her life that Andrea loves."

Among the artists being covered are Velvet Underground, Nick Drake and The Blue Nile – as well as Bing Crosby, whose 1950s No. 1 hit 'I'll Be Seeing You' is given a marvelously sultry treatment by Andrea. The album is due for release on May 27.

John Reynolds has also just finished producing the new album by Seun Kuti, From Africa With Rage, at his own Air Studios in London. The album was co-produced by Brian Eno. Seun is the youngest son of the Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti, who died of an AIDS-related illness in 1997. The album is released on Kniitting Factory Records in the US and on Because Music in Europe.