From darkest depths of suffering comes a Rose

THE Rose of Tralee contest broke new ground when it passed the crown to Maria Walsh, the first lesbian winner (that we know of) in the pageant’s history.

Last year the ‘lovely girl’ stereotype was shattered again when Sydney Rose Brianna Parkins opined about reproductive rights for Irish women and abolishing the Eighth Amendment.

But the temperature looks set to change again for this year’s Rose when Amanda Donohoe, pictured – whose only sibling Ashley and cousin Olivia Burke perished in the Berkeley balcony tragedy – will compete for the title as the Francisco Rose.

It is bound to be a bittersweet occasion for the California-based Irish-American family and, indeed, for their Dublin-based Burke cousins.

The memory of the halcyon night that turned to catastrophe when a balcony collapsed, causing 13 J1 students to plunge to the ground, must still be raw, and the ongoing legal actions must be exhausting.

But there is something brilliantly life-affirming about Amanda returning to the land of her forbears, particularly under the spotlight of public attention.

It’s the 20-year-old physics student’s way of keeping her family’s connection with Ireland alive and of creating some joy and excitement in the midst of loss and suffering. Life goes on.