Fragrant year for Mayo Rose

DIVING IN Mayo Rose Dervla Kenny enjoys living life to the full.

Fragrant year for Mayo Rose


Interview
Áine Ryan

MAYO Rose Dervla Kenny may well have had a strong sense of déjà-vu when she stood on the stage of the Dome last August and represented her native county. Well, when she was only five years of age, she dressed herself up like a Rose of Tralee for a fancy-dress party. Little did she think that 22 years later the dream would come true and, even though she didn’t win the overall title, she has had a wonderful year representing her county at all sorts of colourful events.
Born and reared in the village of Ballyvary – ‘the heart of Mayo’ – Dervla Kenny enjoyed an idyllic childhood with her parents, Henry (the Taoiseach’s big bro and a Mayo County Councillor); mother, Maureen; sister, Deirdre; and twin brothers, Henry and Seamus. Earliest memories include fun-filled caravan holidays in Kerry, where they met the same families each year, forging warm friendships that continue to this day. And when not on holidays life was ‘very family orientated too’ with cousins and grandparents gathering in their home regularly.
After secondary school at St Joseph’s in Castlebar, Dervla had a ball while studying Occupational Therapy at NUI Galway.
“My favourite part of university life was the opportunity to engage in societies and clubs and I always made the most of the long summer holidays. One summer I volunteered in Kolkata, India, with an educational development NGO called Suas. I also spent another summer in the Basque country teaching English. It is the one time in your life you have the opportunity to engage with such programmes,” says Dervla.
Meanwhile, her sister Deirdre was busy concocting a cunning plan! She had pestered Dervla for years to enter the Rose of Tralee competition and despite her protestations, Deirdre finally put her sister forward without her knowledge.
“Initially I wasn’t best pleased to be honest, and a little shy! But I was encouraged by my family and friends to go for it. Of course Deirdre’s mantra was: ‘Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do’.”
On a more practical note, it was also the last year that Dervla was eligible, due to the age limit of 27, to participate in the iconic competition.
For Dervla it has all been an unforgettable experience from being part of ‘a global network’ of Roses, many of whom are now friends, to travelling the country on the Rose Tour in the days before the final.
“We were mini-celebrities and were treated like royalty in every village and town we visited. We also had the wonderful opportunity to go to historical sites, tourist destinations, nursing homes, community centres and hospitals. Everywhere we went we could feel such a great respect among the Irish for one of the longest-running festivals in the country, and I do believe it is important for tourism and for connecting our Irish community worldwide,” says Dervla.
“It was a particular honour for me to be welcomed to Westport with all the Roses last August. We stayed in the Carlton Atlantic Coast Hotel and had a fantastic casino night in aid of the charity Aware.
Her busy year has included helping to raise the Green Flag in her old alma mater, Ballyvary NS, as well as pirouetting and prancing in a Strictly Come Dancing event for Irish Wheelchair Rugby in Dublin. She is also now known as the ‘Cycling Rose’ because of the number of charity cycling events in which she participated. Generally, Dervla is game for anything, from parachuting to snorkelling. She grabs life with both hands and lives it to the full.
Speaking to The Mayo News last week, Dervla Kenny – who, as Mayo Rose, is about to travel to Belarus with the Chernobyl Children’s Charity – confided she cannot believe it is now almost a year since her fragrant odyssey started in the TF Royal Theatre in Castlebar.
But before she passes on her sash to the next Mayo Rose, Dervla will have also headed off to New York for the St Patrick’s Day Parade, where she marched with the Kerry Association.

Quote unquote
On Ireland today
“I believe Irish society is naturally evolving for the better. With the downturn, job losses, increased taxes and emigration, people have re-evaluated their priorities in life and their environment. If we look at the positive, there is an increase in volunteerism and in familial and community spirit. I think already Ireland is changing, and the wheel is turning back to the country I knew as a child.”

On Social Media
“The continued phenomenon that is Facebook and Twitter has evolved beyond recognition and helps young and old keep up to date with instant news and updates. I use it regularly with friends living abroad in the Netherlands, UK, Australia and the US. But it also takes away the face-to-face contact, and things said can be misinterpreted, because you are taking away the body language, context and tone.”