It was a very happy Christmas for singer Andrea Corr after she got engaged to her stockbroker boyfriend Brett Desmond, eldest son of billionaire Dermot Desmond.

Brett popped the question to the pint-sized Dundalk beauty with a €70,000 diamond ring in his father's lavish Sandy Lane hotel in Barbados on Christmas Day.

A stunned Andrea was said to have wept with joy upon immediately accepting his proposal.

The notoriously private couple, who are rarely photographed together, have been dating for almost two years. They divide their time between Brett's swish London apartment and Andrea's South Dublin home.

A holidaymaker in Barbados told how the couple went to Mass together on Christmas Day.

Before hooking up with the handsome 31-year-old billionaire heir, Andrea dated British actor Shaun Evans for four years. Before that, she was involved with music manager Giles Baxendale.

Frequently listed as one of the world's sexiest women, Andrea has also been romantically linked with Fun Lovin' Criminal Huey Morgan and was said to have been the object of Robbie Williams' |affections.

Williams famously sent her 100 red roses with a note that read, “What Can I Do To Make You Love Me?”, to which she replied “Entertain Me”.

A proud auntie, Andrea has six nieces and nephews. Sister Sharon has two children with her Belfast solicitor husband Gavin Bonnar, while Caroline has three children with her property developer spouse Frank Wood. The eldest sibling Jim has one son with ex-fiance Gayle Williamson, a former Miss Northern Ireland.

The raven-haired, pouty, pale-skinned singer has admitted in the past that her siblings' children do, on occasion, make her broody.

“The girls and Jim and their children intensify that feeling, as I love them so much my heart hurts,” she said.

She has also confessed that she does want a family.

“I want to have children, and I want to give them that same sense of security that my parents gave me. That's what I'm looking forward to.”

But while it is certainly exciting times for the shy 34-year-old singer on the romantic front, her solo career has never really taken off. Her debut single Shame On You barely made it into the Top 40, while her album Ten Feet High had poor sales figures.

One person who will certainly be delighted at the news of Andrea's engagement is her father, Gerry, who, she has admitted in the past, is dying for her to tie the knot. “My daddy jokes with me like, ‘Come on Andrea, when are you going to do this?'”

Andrea and Brett will marry this summer. It is not yet known whether they will do so in Ireland or abroad.