A "once promising footballer" has been remanded in custody for sentence by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for having heroin valued about €25,000.
Kenneth Maguire (29), with a former address at Cook Street, Dublin 8, pleaded guilty to possession of the drugs at Lissadel Road, Crumlin last April.
Gardai searched the Lissadel Road premises after getting confidential information that heroin was being kept there.
They found Maguire at the address and he admitted that he had drugs hidden on his person. Gardai conducted a body search and found bags of heroin concealed in his underwear. Additional amounts of heroin, as well as a weighing scale, was found in the premises.
The court heard Maguire had not been selling the drugs to make profit but to feed his own addiction.
Garda Derek McGrath said Maguire's life was one of "lost opportunities" and that he had lost what appeared to have been a promising career as a professional footballer because of his addiction to heroin.
Maguire had played in Croydon, England, and in his teens had trained with a professional league club in Australia. He had, however, come back to visit his family and friends during the one-year training period, and fallen back into his drugs habit.
He was remanded in custody until May 12th for sentencing.