New Zealand Rose carries Tralee festival memories
Being the New Zealand Rose of Tralee was not without its thorns - including torn loyalties - for a Taranaki woman from Ireland.
Niamh O’Sullivan, 27, won the New Zealand Rose of Tralee and won a trip to compete in the big show in County Kerry, Ireland, a huge global celebration of Irish culture.
While it was ‘‘absolutely surreal’’, she did struggle with representing both New Zealand and her Irish hometown of Clonakilty, wanting to be true to both.
‘‘You do worry because you don’t want to let either side down. I don’t think anyone wants to make you choose. It’s about saying both places are home.’’
One of the rose escorts told her she didn’t need to choose.
‘‘[He said] ‘that’s the beauty of it. You don’t have to be worried about feeling torn...This is a way to marry the two’.
‘‘It gave me a chance to go back and kind of put a closure on Ireland for me, which was really important for me.’’
She said it was not a beauty pageant but involved attending events, speaking with judges and media, meeting people, and campaigning on social issues - in her case, Type 1 diabetes.
‘‘It’s not about what you look like, it’s not about what you’re wearing...but at the end of the day the person who won, and who wins every year, is intelligent and charismatic and gives back, in every sense of the word.
‘‘This is worth celebrating, a lot more than about how you look.
‘‘We grew up watching this. We put them up on a pedestal... ‘I just want to be like these girls’. I kind of feel like I’ve come full circle.’’
O’Sullivan said the schedule was crazy - wearing heels from about 8am until 2am - but it was good training for the eventual winner’s ambassador work, and they all built a lot of self confidence.
‘‘It’s completely the right type of festival you should be having for women.
‘‘It’s only that way because so many people want to be involved.’’
It was also nice to have her parents there, she said.
‘‘I think it was a bit of closure for them as well...I think they now kind of understand why I’m here, and Taranaki and New Zealand have offered me a lot of things.’’
Not everything was rosy as she faced criticism on social media, but it helped her back herself, she said.
‘‘These memories are so ingrained with us. Everything that you’re doing from now on, you kind of carry a little bit of it with you.
‘‘It’s basically like a celebration of women with their Irish heritage...Ireland always stays part of everyone.’’