Ronan Keating says his brother's death was "the turning point" for his whole family

He told OK! magazine: "That was the turning point in all of our lives.

"[My wife] Storm and I probably pushed ourselves and worked a little too hard this year, so now we can back off from work.

"We're assessing life. It has been a very tough 12 months."

Over the summer, the 47-year-old star and his loved ones gathered together in Westport "to spend time together as a family" for the anniversary of Ciaran's death.

He added: "It's been difficult. The last time I saw him was at a gala dinner last year. It's hard to believe."

The 'When You Say Nothing At All' hitmaker insisted grief never really goes away, and he still gets choked up each when he speaks at the Marie Keating Foundation Celebrity Gold Classic, which marked its 26th anniversary this year and is in memory of his late mother.

He said: "Every year when I get up at the event to talk about Mum I've a lump in my throat. We miss her.

"She was the anchor in our family. We struggled massively when she passed away. But we're a very tight unit, which has been very important to us.

"The charity has held us together as we all live in different parts of the world. We always come together for these events."

The foundation and its annual event wasn't part of the plan for Ronan and his family, but it helped them deal with their "mixed emotions".

He explained: "We were kicking around the house when Mum died, we were angry, hurt, sad and confused. All of those mixed emotions.

"And it was my sister Linda who suggested we do something to help other people. We were so uneducated about cancer and so was Mum.

"She came from a generation that was scared to go to the doctor to get their breasts checked."