All Offaly will be on its best behaviour next month for the arrival of 34 beautiful young women from all over the world.
Offaly's main town, Tullamore, has captured a piece of the International Rose of Tralee festival by inviting the 34 participants to a warm midlands welcome.
Frank Walsh from Tullamore, who has been involved in the Tralee festival for many years, says that getting a part of the largest festival in Ireland is something to be proud of.
The contestants will be arriving on August 19th and will be given a civic reception at the Court Hotel hosted by Offaly County Council and Tullamore Urban Council. They will then be taken on a shopping trip to the Bridge Shopping Centre where they will each be given a £50 shopping voucher and there they will meet the public.
In the afternoon they will visit the Tullamore Dew heritage centre where they will be invited to tour the centre and sample the local drink.
Then the Roses will head for Birr, the reputed hurling capital of Ireland, for a visit to Birr Castle where they will be greeted by Lord and Lady Rosse and given a tour of the castle museum.
According to Frank, they will relax for a few hours in Kinnitty Castle before getting ready for a gala banquet at the new Bridge House Hotel which will, like the All-Ireland hurling final, be an all-ticket event.
It will be a black-tie affair, starting off with a drinks reception and jazz.
The Roses will spend the night in Kinnitty Castle and make their way to Tralee the following day.
It sounds like a hectic outing, but fair play to Offaly for getting a cut of the action which can do only good for the tourism image of the county.