It’s “winner alright” for Festival of Kerry Support Group and JIGSAW

ALL the dogs in the street are talking about the upcoming benefit night at Kingdom Greyhound Stadium on Saturday July 31st to raise funds for Jigsaw Kerry and The Festival of Kerry Support Group. The Event Coordinator, Bryan Carr, said: “Everyone can expect a fun packed evening on the 31st of July. Not alone will there be eleven top class greyhound races to enjoy but there will be another six fun races with Space Hoppers, Sumo suites, Donkeys, Terriers, Panto Horses, Fancy Dress and much more. We have entrance prizes, celebrity and greyhound pup auctions, live bands, many of the roses and escorts including our current Rose of Tralee Charmaine Kenny will be in attendance. We will have some rose floats there with face painters, balloon modellers, bouncy castles and raffles with top class prizes and all for just €5. What better way to start your Staycation on the Bank Holiday?” The occasion will also mark the official launch of the 2010 Rose of Tralee International Festival and two groups will benefit from the night: • ‘Jigsaw Kerry’ - a youth mental health initiative which involves the whole community in better supporting our young people’s mental health and well-being which is currently working to bring together the supports which can help young people get through difficult times. • ‘Festival of Kerry Support Group’ - which includes members of the Irish National Community and Voluntary Forum. They are made up of a number of business people from Tralee who gave their time and effort since 2007 to raise funds and present the ‘Back to Basics’ Street Carnival during the Rose of Tralee. Both organisations came together last year as fundraising partners during the celebrations to mark 50 years of Rose of Tralee International Festival and plans are well under way to build on this partnership for this year’s celebrations from August 20th to 24th. Jigsaw Kerry have close on 100 members selling tickets for the event all over Kerry while the Festival of Kerry Support Group are looking after the race and dog sponsorship. Tickets for the Saturday 31st Benefit Night are on sale now from the Rose Festival Office at the side of the Ashe Memorial Hall on Denny Street, The Abbey Inn Bar, Sean Ogs Bar, The Munster Bar, Sweeny’s CostCutters or from the Kingdom Greyhound Stadium.

Roses & Escorts look forward to a Ball to beat the band

THE Gala Rose Ball at this year’s Rose of Tralee International Festival promises to be better than ever when the champagne begins to flow on Friday 20th August in the Festival Dome, Tralee. More than 1300 people attended last year’s Golden Jubilee showcase and once again this year’s Ball will be a fairytale experience for everyone, especially the 32 Roses, their Escorts and the new host for the International Rose Selection, Dáithí Ó Sé. The Managing Director of the Rose of Tralee International Festival, Anthony O’Gara, said: “The International Rose Ball continues to be the highlight of the year for many people and once again there will be a spectacular night of entertainment on show. The award-winning Brook Catering will once again serve up a banquet fit for a King and afterwards there will be plenty of opportunities to dance-off the calories! This year we have a new band, Brass & Co, who are an exciting 10-piece live band that offer a mix of music including Big Band, Swing, Disco, Motown, R&B and Rock & Roll. They are sure to raise the rafters of the Dome into the early hours of the morning.” The price of tickets for the Rose Ball has not increased for the third year running. The Rose Ball is traditionally the first major event of the Festival each year and tickets are on sale now from the Rose of Tralee Office on 066-7121322 or online from www.roseoftralee.ie. “Not only is this event always very well attended by visitors to Tralee but also by members of the locality who continue to support the Festival in many different ways. We appreciate this support and we look forward to welcoming back many familiar faces as well as some new faces,” said Anthony O’Gara. The International Rose Ball will take place on Friday 20th August at the Festival Dome, Dan Spring Road, Tralee beside the Carlton Hotel and the Rose of Tralee International Festival will run from Friday 20th to Tuesday 24th August 2010. The new Rose of Tralee will be crowned in the Festival Dome and live on RTÉ 1 television on Tuesday 24th August. For more details on the Rose Ball and other Festival events visit www.roseoftralee.ie.

RTÉ Television announce Dáithí O Sé as the new host of The Rose of Tralee

RTÉ Television and the Rose of Tralee International Festival are delighted to announce Dáithí O Sé as the new host of The Rose of Tralee 2010. Dáithí will interview thirty-one Roses over two nights of live television when the Rose of Tralee International Selection will be broadcast from the Festival Dome on Monday 23 and Tuesday 24 August on RTÉ One. Last year a peak of 885,000* viewers tuned in to see Charmaine Kenny crowned as the 51st Rose of Tralee. The 26-year-old London Rose and Trinity College graduate is originally from Athy in Co. Kildare. Of the announcement Dáithí said, “It’s a huge honour for me to be chosen to host the Rose of Tralee. It’s a show I’ve watched all my life and a festival I’ve worked with for a good few years. Last year, I had the pleasure of being the chair of the judging panel, so to return this year as the presenter will be a different and exciting experience. Of course being the first Kerry man to host the show brings its own pressures, but I’m really looking forward to it. Some of the greats of Irish broadcasting have presented before me so I have huge shoes to fill but I hope I can do the festival and the County proud.” Dáithí is currently in Canada and the United States for seven weeks filming a new series for TG4. The Managing Director of the Rose of Tralee International Festival, Anthony O’Gara, said, “We are thrilled to have Dáithí on board as the new presenter. Dáithí has been very supportive of the festival down through the years and is familiar with our lead sponsor Newbridge Silverware and our hotel partner the Carlton Hotel Group. He has hosted the Kerry event, attended international centre selections and last year chaired the international selection judging panel. Ray has been a wonderful presenter of the televised festival selection over the past 5 years and we believe that Dáithi we be equally skilled and effective in the role. And he’s from Kerry: What more could we ask for?” Commissioning Editor for Entertainment, RTÉ Television, Eddie Doyle, said, “The Rose of Tralee has a perennial appeal – not only for attendees at the event but also for the viewing public at home who tune in to the coverage in their hundreds of thousands. It features every single year in the Top 10 most-watched programmes on this island. The best of broadcasters have presented this uniquely Irish event: Gay Byrne, Ryan Tubridy, Marty Whelan, Derek Davis and Ray Darcy. In Dáithi, I think we have a presenter who will fit into such company with ease. He’s a great natural affability and charm on screen which will endear him to the audience and the Roses alike. His broad experience in live television – on The All Ireland Talent Show for RTÉ – and his many flying hours for TG4, befit him well for the six hours of live television which is a marathon in broadcasting terms.” Rose of Tralee fans from around the globe will be able to watch the competition live online and support their local Rose. RTÉ.ie will be streaming the Rose of Tralee live over the two nights at www.rte.ie/live. Last year over 18,000 live streams were recorded over the two nights. The Irish Regional Finals take place in the Portlaoise Heritage Hotel this June Bank Holiday weekend from June 3rd to 6th.

Watch out 007...here come the Escorts for the Rose of Tralee 2010

THE 32 young men who were chosen to become Escorts at this year’s Rose of Tralee International Festival have said they are looking forward to turning on the James Bond style when they meet their Roses in August. The final list of Escorts was unveiled after a gruelling 48 hours of Boot Camp in Ballinasloe where they were required to undergo a number of tasks that would test their capability of being up to the standard required to be a perfect gentlemen. Among them are Shane Reynolds from Cavan whose cousin Geraldine O’Grady is the 1999 Rose of Tralee; Gareth McGreevy from Belfast is the President of the Queens University Students Union; and William McGrath from Kildare whose passion in life is Magic! The Festival celebrated 50 years in 2009 and Escorts at the Rose of Tralee have been part of the traditional support to the Roses since the 1960s. The Escort Co-ordinator for the Rose of Tralee, Colm Croffy, said: “A Festival without Escorts would result in the Roses’ time and experience in Tralee becoming greatly diminished. Every year we take a lot of time to select, train and induct our gentlemen in the duties and requirements of the Escorts and the Boot Camp has become an essential part of this training activity. It puts the boys under some pressure and also teaches them team work and some discipline, all of which are qualities that are very much needed for Festival Week.” Between now and the time the Festival comes around in August, the Rose of Tralee Escorts, who are from all over Ireland, will be take part in a fundraising campaign for the charity organisation “1Life Suicide Prevention Helpline" “This partnership will specifically target people who are in the same generation as our Roses and Escorts to create an awareness of the issues surrounding suicide and the avenues of assistance that 1 Life can offer,” said Colm Croffy. One lucky lad will ultimately walk away from Tralee with the title of Escort of the Year which will be announced live on RTE 1 on Monday 23rd August. Ben Tighe, the reigning Escort of the Year, said: “Nothing can beat the enjoyment of being an Escort at the Rose of Tralee. Lifelong friendships have been made with fellow Escorts and, of course, the wonderful Roses.” The 2010 Rose of Tralee International Festival will begin on Friday 20th August with the Gala Rose Ball. The televised selections will take place on Monday 23rd and Tuesday 24th with the 2010 Rose of Tralee being announced live on RTE 1 television on Tuesday 24th August. Full details of all the International Roses, Escorts and Festival events are available from www.roseoftralee.ie.

Dreams come true for six lucky Roses who qualify for International Rose of Tralee Selection

Roses from Down, Carlow, Laois, Leitrim, Tipperary and Belfast have been chosen to go forward to the Rose of Tralee International Festival in August. They were selected last night from 29 Rose contestants who took part in the Irish Regional Final of the Rose of Tralee which was held during a fun-packed festival weekend in Portlaoise. Joining them in Tralee will be four Roses from Britain (3) and North America (1) who were also selected at their respective Regional Finals which were also staged in the Portlaoise Heritage Hotel. Roses representing Sunderland, Liverpool, Leicester and Arizona will also take part in the International Rose of Tralee Festival in August. The Managing Director of the Rose of Tralee, Anthony O’Gara, congratulated every one of the Roses who represented their communities with great distinction this weekend. “All of the Roses are extraordinary women and they are a credit to their families. We hope this will be a life altering experience for them all. It is a pleasure to extend a special word of thanks and congratulations to the people of Laois who played a major part in making this year’s Regional Finals such a success. The organisers and sponsors were most generous throughout and we are looking forward to returning again in 2011.” The Irish Regional Finals are now a major part of the Rose of Tralee as it has opened up Ireland’s top family festival to a wider audience both at home and abroad. The six Irish Roses chosen at last night’s gala event will be joined by the Cork, Dublin and Kerry Roses along with 22 other Roses from USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and Dubai at the International Festival in August. The Rose of Tralee International Festival will take place from the 20th to the 24th August with the new Rose of Tralee being crowned in the Dome on Tuesday 24th August. Full details of the 2010 Festival and the Roses are available from www.roseoftralee.ie.

Charmaine Kenny is the 2009 Rose of Tralee

THE new Rose of Tralee for 2009 is Charmaine Kenny representing London. Originally from Athy, Co Kildare, Charmaine (26) has a degree in Management Science & Information System Studies and a masters in Economics, both from Trinity College, Dublin, where she is also an elected Scholar. Charmaine enjoys the outdoors and scaled Mount Kilimanjaro last year. She is an avid runner and has completed the Connemara Marathon and is now training for the Great Gorilla Run in London (dressed as a gorilla). The Managing Director of the Rose of Tralee International Festival, Anthony O’Gara, paid tribute to the new Rose: “We are very happy to have Charmaine as our 51st Rose and we are confident that she will be a great ambassador for Ireland, her own centre and the 70 million Irish people worldwide.” “This year’s 50 year celebrations of the Festival have been a resounding success with huge crowds attending all of our events in the Topaz Dome and on the streets, making it Ireland’s premier family festival with true international appeal. We are proud of our town and we are delighted to showcase the hospitality that the people of Tralee afford to our visitors from around the world,” said Anthony O’Gara who dedicated this year’s Festival to the Roses of Tralee. The new Rose of Tralee, Charmaine, is looking forward to a busy year and over the coming days a schedule of commitments will be drawn up that will take into consideration her work and personal commitments. One of her first official engagements as the Rose of Tralee will be a visit to Áras an Úachtarán to meet President of Ireland, Mary McAleese on Tuesday 1st September.

Roses pick another Kildare man as Shannon Development Escort of the Year 2009

BEN TIGHE (29) from County Kildare has been chosen as the 2009 Shannon Development Escort of the Year at this year’s Rose of Tralee International Festival. Ray D’Arcy made the announcement on RTÉ One television tonight in front of hundreds of thousands of viewers. Ben is the Escort to the Milton Keynes Rose, Candy Murphy. He is a regional sales manager with Studio Eyewear and his hobbies include playing the piano, guitar, football, soccer and tennis. Ben describes himself as “up for the craic, very outgoing, loves meeting people, has a fun-loving personality, genuinely down to earth and good in a crisis”. In the future he’d like to improve his musical talents, and believes living with seven sisters has well prepared for the role of Festival Escort. The 50 Roses who are in Kerry for this year’s 50 Year celebrations of the Rose of Tralee each nominated who they believed was the most gentlemanly, attentive, supportive and fun guy with a great personality. A Tralee Bar manager Eoghan Kirby and a Business Management Assistant from Meath, Sean McGarrell were also shortlisted by the Roses. The Chairman of Shannon Development, John Brassil, who presented the cheque for €1000 to the winning Escort remarked on how this year’s Escorts have been regarded as top class and extremely popular amongst the Roses. In addition to the cash prize, the Shannon Development Escort of the Year has won a two-night stay in the luxurious Adare Manor complete with Full Irish Breakfast each morning in the Oakroom restaurant and Candlelit Dinner for two on the evening of his choice in the fine dining Oakroom restaurant. There are 50 Escorts this year and if there are any gentlemen who consider themselves to have the James Bond swagger and can fit into a tuxedo as though they were born in it is welcome to apply now to become an Escort in 2010.