As this years Rose of Tralee festival approaches, the reigning Rose, Maria Walsh has opened up about her time as winner and what she’s been up to for the year. Maria has spoken out about her travelling opportunities, and the connections she’s made with communities.
Maria has been lucky with international travel opportunities. Speaking to the TVNow Magazine, she said, they included, “a trip to Calcutta with the Hope Foundation; we travelled to Eastern Cape to help build a school with about 200 volunteers; we had a great trip to Vesnova with Adi Roche’s Chernobyl Children International; and I just came back from a trip to Tanzania with a group called Development Perspectives.”
The Rose has also been busy domestically, meeting this years prospective Rose applicants and really connecting with Irish communities in all 32 counties.
Maria was also given an opportunity to take part in some question-and-answer sessions in schools and universities around the country, and found these to be a specific highlight of her year.
The young people could ask questions about LGBT and Maria hopes that these discussions will have helped in the understanding of LGBT issues more.
“A lot of people I talked to were 16 or 17 and going through that pressure stage, and you’d hope that maybe some people would come away thinking that if she can do it, I can too,” she said.
Maria is still in the process of what her next step is, following the handover of the crown, but is eager for opportunities: “I’m excited to take some time and figure out whats next, but also eager for opportunities.”
You can catch this full interview with Maria in this week’s TV Now.
