Naas woman is set for international Miss PinUp competition in London

                A Co Kildare woman is the new Miss PinUp for Ireland and is getting set for an international modelling competition in London this September. 32- year-old Naas woman Sue Kelly was voted as the new  Irish Miss PinUp in an event at The Convention Centre in Dublin on Saturday. The size 16 model who is 5'8 is hoping to inspire women to celebrate their curves. Five years ago, Ms Kelly, was a size six, but an accident at work led to back damage which meant that she was unable to exercise daily. She began to put on weight and is now celebrating her natural body shape , representing Ireland in Miss PinUp International in London this September. The part-time model, who also works at  maintenance company The Civic Group, is an inspiration to women and is is now realising her dream. Sue has featured on Expose and modelled in catwalks around the country. She said: "I never thought in a million years I could do this. A friend of mine encouraged me to do a few photo shoots a few years ago. I have to pinch myself." Despite Sue's success, she has encountered negative reactions to her figure, particularly from some women. At a nightclub in Naas recently a woman who was in her thirties approached Sue and said: 'there is something on your chin', to which Sue responded, 'it must be lipstick' and  the woman said , 'check your other chin.'" Although Sue tries to brush off these nasty comments, she admits that it can be upsetting. She is concerned that Irish women are overly body conscious. A few years ago, Sue suffered from depression and was very conscious of her body shape. She said: "People are made to feel that being thin is the way you should look." Sue recalls that when she was exercising all the time, in a bid to lose weight, she was never happy no-matter how much weight she lost. When she sustained a back injury at work, she was a size six but admits that she was 'not happy.' Now she still eats healthily, exercises with dancing and walking, but she also eats chocolate sometimes. She celebrated her victory on Saturday night with her Dublin based boyfriend Jason Yourell, who she says has told her that he prefers her shape now, to her former size six. She had gone from a size 14 to a size six, now she is a size 16. Sue said: "If I had lost another stone, I would have severely underweight. I could have been sinking into an eating disorder. Being skinny was not what was going to make me happy.  I was never happy counting calories."