Oz-some beach hut is home from home

Damian creates ‘stunning’ Irish Bondi lockdown shack

- SYLVIA POWNALL

MEET the Australian who got so homesick he built his very own Bondi Beach – in his backyard in Ireland.

Software director Damian Purcell had such a hankering for his native Sydney during lockdown that he created his own mini getaway down the lane from the family home in Ardee, Co Louth.

And the glorified beach on the edge of a river is now a smash hit with his kids and their pals who can meet up safely for playdates outdoors.

Damian revealed: “Having grown up in Sydney, Bondi Beach, it was all outdoors, sand, every day surfing – I’m trying to bring a bit of Australia to Ireland.