Chris de Burgh brands critic "bitter"

Chris de Burgh has branded a critic "bitter" after he received a negative review.

Peter Crawley criticised the singer's performance in Dublin in an article for The Irish Times.

According to the BBC, he wrote that "certain toes will never uncurl after this experience", and said that Chris de Burgh's name "summons a rush of associations, some of which carry a shudder".

However, de Burgh wrote a letter to the newspaper, in which he said: "You certainly arrived with the word 'prejudice' burned into your furrowed brow."

He continued: "Your churlish review is an insult to all those who enjoyed their night out, and in these days of collapsing newspaper sales and an entire new generation on the way who will get their information online, you may be looking for another job sooner rather than later.

"Your pals in the pub must have loved your review, but it seems that you are universally loathed in the theatre world."

De Burgh added that he has "sympathy" for Crawley, remarking: "It must be so poisonous to have to lurk in the shadows, riffling through the garbage bins of despair and avoiding those who think that you are an irrelevance, an irritation to be ignored and laughed about."

He concluded: "We were wondering by way of explanation and as you seem to portray yourself as a bitter and unfulfilled man, were you much teased by your school chums in the schoolyard and called 'Creepy Crawley'?"

De Burgh performed three shows in Dublin and claimed that they all sold out.