Doyle gets the go-ahead for dream home
Sunday November 22 2009
IRISH soccer hero Kevin Doyle was close to tears last week after losing to France -- but the international centre forward got news to cheer him up back home in Wexford.
He may not be playing on the 'field of dreams' in South Africa but the good news for the soccer star is that he's been given the green light to build a multi-million-euro dream pad outside his home town of Wexford.
Doyle's A-rated energy mansion will be built on the family lands in Redinagh, Killurin, just outside Wexford town, after he was given planning permission last week. The five-bedroom, two-storey home, with a gymnasium, large car port, and all the other mod cons of a top-level English footballer, has won the approval of Wexford County Council Planning Authority.
The house, designed by local architect Raymond Kelly, has a curved design front to catch the rays of the sun, while it also included the latest in insulation and glazing.
The house is to be built on more than three acres of land and will not be visible from the main roadway. Kevin Doyle has been ordered to pay the local council €6,000 in levies while the Local Authority is also insisting on a re-alignment of the ditch at the entrance to the property in the interests of road safety.
Mr Kelly included a letter with the planning application specifying that this will be the Irish international star's primary residence.
Now playing with Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier Division of the English League, Doyle is currently renting a property in Wolverhampton but intends spending more time on his home patch when the mansion is completed.
Recently, Doyle's Wolves side paid a visit to play Wexford Youths in Ferrycarrig Park, which is just a few miles from his home.
It was under Mick Wallace and Wexford Youths that Doyle started out on his fledgling career, which later took him to St Patrick's Athletics, Cork City and Reading, before becoming Wolves record signing this season.
- BRENDAN FURLONG
Sunday Independent
