Amid tears and cheers, Laois Rose Katelyn Cummins has been crowned winner of the Rose of Tralee 2025. “Oh my god, oh my god,” said the apprentice electrician, from Ballyouskill on the Laois-Kilkenny border, as she was applauded by presenters Dáithí Ó Sé and Kathryn Thomas and the 31 other Roses who had come from around Ireland and across the world to participate in the event.
The announcement came at the end of an occasionally entertaining, sometimes gruelling three-hour broadcast (RTÉ One, 8pm). As is the tradition, the 14 Roses taking to the stage on the competition’s second night spoke about their life experiences and their connection to Ireland. Next comes the inevitable party piece – all of which fall short of the Tayto v King Crisps taste-off and dog yoga from night one.
Given that there are only so many ways the contestants can smile, wave and sing their favourite song, the evening chugs by smoothly enough – though you do wish Thomas would stop addressing every one of the Roses she interviews as “girrrrrl”. This isn’t a remake of Mean Girls, and we aren’t all 16-year-old Olivia Rodrigo fans.
There are moments of genuine emotion, too. Ottawa Rose Aidan Russell becomes tearful talking about her father’s passing. “I’m being very candid here,” she says.
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But if the Rose of Tralee can be serious, it is often silly – as we are reminded when Sydney Rose Laura Foley introduces her father as Kilkenny’s answer to The Fonze from Happy Days, and he happily poses in a leather jacket and mirror-shades.
Later, Western Canada Rose Ciara Confrey cranks the absurdity up even higher by drawing a marker moustache on Ó Sé under the pretence of giving him a makeover. Ó Sé is shocked – but not so stunned that he isn’t above teasing Donegal mega-star Daniel O’Donnell by bringing out the Sam Maguire (which Kerry recently won at the expense of Donegal) after the Kincasslagh Elvis serenaded Tralee.
The question of the Rose of Tralee’s relevance in modern Ireland is meanwhile broached by Thomas when interviewing Limerick Rose Leah McMahon, whose daughter is in the audience and is presented with a birthday cake. What would McMahon say, asks Thomas, to those who might dismiss the Rose of Tralee as a “beauty pageant ... the lovely girls contest?”
“Men and women aren’t on a level playing field,” says McMahon, a financial planner. “We need festivals like the Rose of Tralee to celebrate women. We’re not asking to be more, we’re asking to be on the same level. Critics, I don’t think they understand. It’s been amazing.”
