Photo: WENN.com

Ronan Keating was defended the low sales of his new album in Ireland after his recent release Fires sold just 140 copies in its first week of release.

The former Boyzone star released his latest solo effort on Monday (September 5) and has struggled to sell huge amounts in his homeland. However, speaking to Strawberry Alarm Clock on FM104, he explained that sales in Ireland are so low that 140 is not too bad.

"It's rubbish. The number one album midweek here sold about 700 - it's not like sales for anything are sky high," he said.
 
"Album sales in Ireland are never going to keep you in Gucci - you do it to make a presence.
 
Adding: "They didn't include my download sales either and the downloads were quite substantially more than that but I'm not going to get into a battle about it."
 
"Hopefully I'll be top three in the UK. When I saw what was written here in Ireland I was like, 'What the hell?' I mean, it's number four in the UK midweek charts already."

Ronan Keating last hit the headlines when he had to be saved from a drunken reveller looking for a fight backstage at the Isle of Wight Festival earlier this Summer.