Thursday 19 April 2007

Football star seeks luxury Irish home

FORMER Irish soccer international Gary Kelly has applied for permission to build a state-of-the-art family home in his native Co Louth.

The planning application has strengthened rumours that he may looking towards retiring in the near future.

The 32-year-old Leeds United full back has lodged an application to build a four-bedroom house with a total floor area of 534 square metres - just over 5,700 square feet.

It is proposed for a 3.5 acre field near Clogherhead, some eight miles north of his home town of Drogheda.

The proposed house, which has a large glass atrium at the front, includes four double bedrooms, a large dining room, a sun room and a gym.

The footballer is well known for his charity work and was the moving force behind the Drogheda-based Gary Kelly Cancer Support Centre, which provides free support services to cancer patients.

He also donated part of his testimonial to cancer charity.

However, he may face some obstacles in getting permission because the county council has strict criteria for one-off houses in rural areas.

The site is in the southern part of the county, which the county development plan says has seen an increase in the number of planning applications.

The plan also says that "the scale and size of the dwellings being sought for planning permission has increased also."

Irish Independent

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