Ashen-faced Ronan Keating packs his bags and leaves family home after announcing split from wife Yvonne

 
Stony faced: Ronan Keating leaves his luxury home outside Dublin today after announcing news of his separation from wife Yvonne

Separated: Ronan and his wife Yvonne, seen here in January at the 10th wedding anniversary of Take That's Gary Barlow. Ronan and his wife today announced their separation after 12 years of marriage

Ronan and Yvonne posed with their three children, Jack, 11, nine-year-old Marie and Ali, four at the annual Pink Ribbon Ball for the Marie Keating Foundation, in Dublin last year

Not even a pair of dark sunglasses could mask Ronan Keating�s emotions tonight as he moved out of the family home.

Dressed casually in a pair of designer jeans and a jumper, and without the trademark baseball cap he wore earlier, the singer looked visibly distraught over the end of his 12 year marriage to wife Yvonne.

The pained expression on his face said everything.



Amicable split: Ronan appeared on Loose Women yesterday with the other members of Boyzone, and was still wearing his wedding ring

Last ditch break: Ronan Keating and Yvonne enjoyed a holiday in Venice at the beginning of May with friends

Young love: Ronan and a pregnant Yvonne seen in November 1998

Low-profile: Yvonne was being comforted inside the house by friends as Ronan was seen arriving at the home earlier today

And summoning all his reserves the 33-year-old singer dared to give one last backward glance at the house before his driver pulled out of the driveway for the last time.

It�s been an emotionally wrought day for the star since he and his
wife announced that they were going their separate ways.

Earlier a devastated Yvonne, 36 was being comforted by Keith Duffy�s wife Lisa and a neighbour over a cup of tea inside her home.

Friends have been left reeling since news of their split emerged just before lunchtime today.

As one family friend outside the house put it: �It�s is not a great day.'

He said: �I�m just shocked I got the call last night asking to come over to the house, and I found out when I arrived this morning. I�m totally shocked.
�The mood in the house is ok at the moment considering. The girls are just consoling her (Yvonne) over a cup of tea in the kitchen.

�The kids are playing over at a neighbour�s house.'

One can only guess at the mood inside the house as Ronan and Yvonne help their three heartbroken children Jack (11) Marie (9) and Ali, (4) come to terms with the devastating news.Slowly one by one celebrity friends turned up to comfort the couple.

Just before 6pm Ronan, who wed Yvonne and in 1998, emerged from the house, climbing into the black Range Rover and speeding off.

He returned just 15 minutes later, and made no comment to the media, as he joined Yvonne inside.

In a statement yesterday, the couple said their split had been �amicable.�
And the couple remained together in the house for most of the day as they shielded their family from the media glare surrounding their split.

Ronan�s Range Rover and Yvonne�s blue Mini Cooper remained firmly parked in the driveway all day as the couple went to ground.

And a security van remained parked outside the gated house.

Outside security told waiting media: �They are making no further comment. They have asked for privacy.�

A neighbour out walking her dog yesterday summed up the sense of shock which has left friends and family of the couple reeling, saying: �It comes as such a shock, they always seemed so happy together you�d never think it.

'The first I heard of it was on the radio this morning. You really feel for their three small children.�

The exclusive Abbington estate house in Malahide is home to the rich and famous with Westlife star Nicky Byrne and his wife Georgina also living there.

When the majestic style residences went on sale at the height of the boom they had a price tag of between E3,250,000 and E3,500,000million

The property is set behind walls topped with wrought iron railings, with tall trees and shrubs offering seclusion to the broken hearted star.

Electronically controlled entrance gates also kept unwanted visitors out.
The news comes as it emerged that Keating - who has reformed Boyzone in recent months � had agreed to be a judge on the next series of X Factor in Australia.

That meant he would have been away from home for months, which would have put a huge strain on the couple�s marriage.

And earlier this week, Keating astonishingly admitted he was surprised Yvonne had stayed with him for the last 12 years, as he revealed he can be jealous if the former model goes out without him.

He said: 'I can�t believe Yvonne has stuck with me for so long. I still get incredibly jealous.
'The green-eyed monster rears its ugly head and brings out all my insecurities. I don�t like it if Yvonne is out without me. I just can�t help it.'

The star was left devastated last autumn when his former bandmate Stephen Gately tragically died.

Yesterday the group appeared on show Loose Women to talk about their special tribute to bandmate Stephen Gately, who died last October.

The group are staging a special tribute concert with a number of celebrity guests who will join the band on stage for some one-off special performances.

Boyzone's new single Love Is A Hurricane was released today. It is the second single from album Brother.

The group will be touring the UK in February/March 2011.