AN Irish singing sensation will appear at a North-East theatre next month.

Ann Breen, from County Down, Northern Ireland, first developed an interest in music after listening to her grandmother singing.

She won her first competition at the age of nine, and by the time she was 16 was singing in a local band.

Ms Breen recorded her first album, Country Songbird, in 1981, and the single, Pal of My Cradle Days, topped the Irish charts where it stayed for two years, earning a place in the Guinness Book of Records.

Her song Sweet Sixteen was used as the theme tune for the Swedish film, The Last Dance.

She and her band will perform at the Sunderland Empire Theatre, on March 10, at 7.30pm.

To book tickets, ring the box office on 0191-514 2517