The New Zealand Rose, Keely O’Grady, was named the 2024 International Rose of Tralee on Tuesday night, at the end of this year’s Rose of Tralee festival in Co Kerry.
It had already proved a memorable event, with highlights from night one including bagpipes, rowing machines and Dáithí Ó Sé, the cohost, waving cheerleader pompoms at a shocked audience. There was more where that came from (aside from the pompoms) as the second half of the contest (RTÉ One, Tuesday, 8pm) got under way.
First up was the Donegal Rose, Niamh Shevlin, an Irish dancer who has appeared in Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance and entered the contest as tribute to her late aunt. She was followed by the Sligo Rose, Megan McCormack, a primary teacher and intercounty footballer from Gurteen, and then the London Rose, Glenna Mannion.
Mannion’s interaction with Ó Sé was one of the more memorable in a generally dull opening half. It led to an anecdote about Mannion’s sister meeting Pope Francis when he visited Ireland, in 2018, with viewers treated to a snap of said sibling kissing the pontiff on each cheek.
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“Did she try to shift the pope?” Ó Sé wondered before Mannion read the leaves from the cup of tea that the MC had been chugging – and tipped him as a future Late Late Show host. Either David Lynch has got back into film-making or it was peak Rose of Tralee.
Later came the New York Rose, Billie Cooper, who is originally from Cavan but lived in China from the age of 14. She tried to teach Ó Sé Chinese, with what might be described as middling results.
