Mayo woman to represent Sydney in tonight’s Rose of Tralee

Mayo woman and Sydney Rose, Ashling Heneghan, will be competing on tonight’s Rose of Tralee festival.

The Carrabaun woman, who has lived in Sydney for just over a year, will wear the Sydney sash at the prestigious festival after being crowned the best of 12 competitors.

The running order for the festival’s TV Selection was unveiled, with Ms Heneghan set to appear sixteenth on in the festival tonight (Monday, August 19), live from Kerry Sports Academy at MTU.

Previously, speaking to The Mayo News, Ms Heneghan said she was ‘overwhelmed with excitement’ when she was chosen as the Sydney Rose.

“I couldn't believe it. ‘Why have they chosen me?’ But I'm really looking forward to everything now. Our whole family and myself are just beyond ourselves with excitement. We can't wait to get down to Tralee and have lots of craic and make lots of nice, fun memories and have something to talk about for years to come,” she explained.

Thirty-two International Roses will be appearing across tonight, Monday, and tomorrow night, Tuesday, from the Rose of Tralee International Festival Rose Selection.

Former festival winner and Castlebar native, Luzveminda O’Sullivan, is Chair of the judging panel for this year's Rose of Tralee festival, while James Burke from Ardagh will proudly represent Mayo in the Escort section of the competition.

Reflecting on the process and build-up to the festival, Ms Heneghan called the whirlwind a ‘really enjoyable experience’.

“I've had the opportunity to meet Irish people from a range of ages, from young right up to the old that have settled in Sydney or have been there for short periods, and you get to have lots of craic and have lots of chats with lots of very interesting and kind people,” she said.

The Rose of Tralee will air tonight and tomorrow from 8pm on RTÉ one.

Additionally, the festival will be available to watch both live and on-demand by audiences in Ireland and around the world on RTÉ Player.