Sinead O'Connor makes desperate appeal to the media

Sinéad O'Connor has publicly appealed for the press to stop mocking her.

Writing as part of a full-page advert she took out in the Cork-based Examiner newspaper, O'Connor asks: "If ye all think I'm such a crazy person why do ye use me to sell your papers? Please, I just want to be a little old lady now and not be all controversial and not be bashed and called crazy and laughed at when I open my mouth to sing or speak."

Reiterating the fact that she was abused as a child, Sinéad complains, "I've been the whipping post of Ireland's media for 20 years. And what have I done to deserve these lashings? I have not behaved the way a woman is supposed to behave."

The advert appeared just a few days after O'Connor was ridiculed by a number of papers for spearheading a drive to eliminate head lice from Irish schools.

"I just want to be left alone to sing and work and try to do some good in this world," she concludes.