Kerry and Derry look set to compete for a different kind of All-Ireland title next week, as the Rose of Tralee returns. Despite recent disappointment on the football field, representatives from both counties have emerged as the two favourites to win the international festival’s coveted title. BBC producer Darcy Taylor, 25, from Bellaghy, is the 2024 Derry Rose, while paediatric radiographer Emer Dineen, from Castlegregory, will represent Kerry.
And Ms Taylor had kind words for the show’s presenter yesterday, telling the Irish Daily Mail: ‘My granny loves Daithí Ó Sé. Like, I mean, she’s in love with the man.’ She also said her work with BBC Radio Foyle initially inspired her to enter the competition.
Ms Taylor, a graduate of Queens University Belfast and Ulster University Derry, works as an assistant content producer for the Mark Patterson Show. She said ‘We had the previous [Derry] Rose Áine Morrison on [the show]. And just the way she talked about it, I was like, this would be an amazing experience to go and do So, I thought, you know what, let’s go for it.
It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.’ BBC Radio Foyle was threatened with closure last year until a grassroots campaign saved the station. The Derry Rose said: ‘In my work, that’s what I aim to do.
I aim to give people a voice. So, it was just really important that that was able to continue, and that people had a platform to be able to speak about issues affecting the hundreds that live in the city and in the county. I think that’s the power of media.
It’s the ability to tell stories that otherwise wouldn’t be told.’ Ms Taylor aims to portray the North in a positive light during the festival. She said: ‘Our radio programme is a local grassroots community programme, so I see, on the ground, the amazing work that’s being done in Derry ‘I see the amazing people who, with very little resources, are doing some amazing work within the community.
I don’t know if the North is always talked about in the most positive light. So, for me it’s been really important to have a positive representation.’ Kerry Rose Ms Dineen, 23, is a paediatric radiographer in Temple Street Children’s Hospital in Dublin.
She attended Gaelcholáiste Chiarraí in Tralee and is a fluent Gaeilgeoir. She is also learning Irish Sign Language. She can barely conceal her glee over the dresses she was given by designer Tina Griffin for the duration of the festival and says her mother is eyeing them up She said: ‘I’m delighted with it, especially today with this sun, you can see the bit of sparkle.
The beautiful Tina Griffin, she’s been unbelievable to me. ‘She’s gone above and beyond, giving me loads and loads of dresses on loan. I’d say half of my tour dresses are hers.
’ The Kerry woman is passionate about promoting the Kingdom and is happy to suggest where visitors can go for a good pint during the festival. ‘There’s either Spillane’s Bar, which is out in the fabulous Maharees, or else you have Fitzgerald’s, which is always good craic,’ she said. Ms Dineen is also a keen swimmer and has previously volunteered as a lifeguard in her home village of Castlegregory.
And she remains hopeful that Kerry’s star aquatic attraction, who hasn’t been seen since 2020, will make a return to the Kingdom’s shores once again. The Kerry Rose said: ‘Fungi has not passed away. Fungi is on an adventure just taking a little swim around the world to come back to us eventually, potentially with babas.
’ The Rose of Tralee Festival started in 1959. This year’s event will run from this Friday to Tuesday of next week. The main event is on Monday and Tuesday.
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