2fm, which was recently repositioned to attract 25- to 44-year-olds, has decided not to allow singer David Gray on its playlist.

Despite the fact that his 1998 album White Ladder was the biggest ever selling record in Ireland, 2FM bosses have snubbed Gray's new single 'The Fugitive' and have refused to make it part of the station's playlist.

The track, taken from Gray's new album Draw The Line, has been rejected for heavy rotation on 2FM, and only enjoys a small number of individual or 'spot play' from DJs.

The absence of Gray from the 2FM playlist is even more surprising given that rival station Today FM has playlisted Gray's single as have a number of smaller regional stations.

2FM's stance proved especially embarrassing to RTÉ when Late Late Show producers invited the singer/songwriter to perform his track on Ryan Tubridy's first show as presenter, which featured an A-list cast including Taoiseach Brian Cowen and Hollywood star Joan Collins.

A record industry source said: "That really took the biscuit. David Gray and his new single are popular enough for the biggest TV show on RTÉ but not for their national music radio station. I can't think of anyone more popular in Ireland than David Gray. Can you?

"If 2FM are serious about going for an older range of music lovers in their 20s to their 40s, they'd better find out who David Gray is.

Born in Manchester in 1968, Gray (41) recorded three albums with varying success until his fourth album, White Ladder, was played on RTÉ TV music programme No Disco after which he became hugely popular in Ireland.

His popularity spread to the UK and onto America.

Since then he has sold 12 million albums worldwide and won two Ivor Novello awards for songwriting.