Louis Walsh has admitted that Boyzone have no immediate plans to perform together and said that the boys need time to grieve for their late bandmate, Stephen Gately.

Walsh told The Evening Herald: “They have lost a brother in Stephen and right now they are hurting. Coming back isn’t something that one member of the group can decide on their own – it has to be a group decision.

“I think for now they just need time to be left on their own and to come to terms with the huge void that has been left by Stephen.”

On whether the group’s next album will go ahead, the X Factor judge continued: “I know they were working hard on the new album and that Stephen had recorded a few tracks for that. But it would take a lot of work to finish off, and if and when they do that it will be as a tribute for Stephen.”