My Week: Hosting the Rose of Tralee and attending a pre-marriage course

It’s always a good week when I get back home to Kerry, unfortunately I don’t make it as much as I’d like to. Between Galway and Dublin it can be hard.

I know friends of mine who live in London get home more often than I do, having a direct flight to the Kingdom helps I guess. I was working in Tralee on the Friday so decided to Head further West to Dingle to see the folks.

Our wedding seems to be on every ones lips. The 12th of July being the big day, North and South this year. As all my friends are saying, jokingly! Even though we only had one night with the folks it was great.

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Into Tralee for this year’s Kerry Rose selection. This was my ninth year in a row to host this event. It’s the first step in my Rose of Tralee duties every year. It only took my seven years to get the big gig at the end of the summer, it was worth waiting for.

The Kerry Rose selection is one of the biggest with about 20 to 25 girls entering every year and with a crowd on the night of about 600 on the night, so no pressure. I get to meet all the Roses during the day. They were all up of the craic which makes life a lot easier for me. I love having fun with them during the day, I think they think I’m normal and not full of it and that puts them at ease. The stage part is always a lot of fun too.

Strangely enough the worst part of the night for me is the reveal at the end. There can be only one winner so that leaves more than 20 who will be disappointed, but to be honest most of them enter for the experience and not to win. If they win it’s a bonus.

Ann-Marie Hayes a lovely young lady from Listowel in North Kerry was crowned the 2012 Kerry Rose. A newly qualified Doctor from Trinity College Dublin no less. A young lady who lost her Dad before Christmas. She spoke about the whole event and how it affected her but also how it helped her in her college course.

It’s not an easy thing to speak about in front of 600 people when you only know 20 of them. This could have been one of the things that set her apart on the night. Next up on the Rose of Tralee front for me are the regional selections where all the Irish, British, American and the rest of Europe come together. 53 Roses in one weekend. That’s a lot of questions and party pieces. It’s always a great laugh, along with a lot of work for me.

One thing a presenter is always worried about is mispronouncing names. I was reading the Irish World a few weeks back and I read of Olivia Markantonakis, this year’s Derby Rose. Olivia, I’ve been practicing and will get it right on the night, I promise!

I couldn’t stay in Kerry for the long as I had to be back in Dublin for a pre-marriage course. If you marry in Dublin it’s not compulsory due to the volume of people getting married in the Capital.

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