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Rose of Tralee Maria Walsh 'gay and proud'

Rose of Tralee Maria Walsh 
Rose of Tralee Maria Walsh  Rose of Tralee Maria Walsh 

THE newly crowned Rose of Tralee was praised by the pageant's organisers yesterday after revealing she is gay.

Maria Walsh opened up about her sexuality over the weekend in a newspaper interview, saying: "I'm gay and proud."

"I'm confident in who I am as a person," the 27-year-old said.

"To me, being gay is normal. I told my parents and they were supportive, as I knew they would be."

The Philadelphia Rose was last week crowned the 56th winner of the Rose of Tralee during a two-night live show on RTÉ.

A native of Boston in Massachusetts, Miss Walsh moved to Shrule in Co Mayo with her family 20 years ago.

She moved to New York and later Philadelphia after graduating in Journalism and Visual Media at Griffith College in Dublin.

The new Rose of Tralee said that she had started a relationship with a woman several years ago which lasted for two years, but she is now single.

"I'm not ashamed of my sexuality by any means," she told the Irish Sun on Sunday.

"The Rose of Tralee is about celebrating women's intelligence, careers, their volunteer work.

"The question of sexuality never came up. To me, being gay is normal, it's natural."

Ms Walsh received widespread praise online yesterday for opening up about being gay, including from the official Rose of Tralee Twitter account.

Sharing tweets of support with its followers, organisers of the festival also denied online claims that privately there would be concerns over having a gay Rose of Tralee.

"Not at all - we think she's amazing," a message from the Rose of Tralee Twitter account said in response.

Former Rose of Tralee Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin, who won the annual Kerry contest in 2005, also praised Miss Walsh yesterday on Twitter.

"Our new Rose of Tralee Maria Walsh is a wonderful representative for both the festival and young women everywhere," the 30-year-old said.

"Sexuality needn't be a headline but at least a positive story like this brings Ireland's dinner table and political conversations to 21st century."

Chairman of the festival Anthony O'Gara said Ms Walsh's sexuality was likely to "create some interest".

"Hopefully all positive," he added.

Miss Walsh was the bookies' favourite ahead of winning the contest, with Paddy Power giving odds of 2/5 to win.

One of the reasons she stood out was due to three ladybirds tattooed behind her right ear.

The design is in memory of her cousin Teresa Molloy (19) who was killed in a road crash in 2009.

* POSITIVE: Maria Walsh