Airtricity customer service representative Sarah Whelan lit up the stage this week in front of a global TV audience of millions in the world-famous International Rose of Tralee competition.
Sarah, who works at Airtricity as a Customer Service Representative, is only the second Wicklow Rose in the competition’s long history to be selected to represent her county at the world-famous festival.
Originally from Dunlavin in West Wicklow, 25-year-old Sarah was the 20th Rose hopeful to take to the stage of the famed Tralee Dome to be interviewed live by presenter Daithí O Sé on RTE Television.
Cheered on by friends and family including her parents and four brothers and sisters, Sarah lit up the stage telling the audience watching in Ireland and around the world of the absolutely fantastic reception that she and each of the other Roses had received when they arrived to Tralee after their week-long tour of Ireland. “I knew it was going to be a big but I had absolutely no idea how big it was going to be. The experience is quite emotional – there’s huge excitement and then you see your family and it’s so overwhelming to see everybody come down [to Tralee],” the Wicklow Rose told Daithí.
Sarah, who is a qualified children’s book illustrator with an MA in Children’s Book Illustration at Cambridge School of Art, displayed a one-off illustrated copy of the story of The Rose of Tralee, which she hopes to have published soon.
“I decided to illustrate a book about the Rose of Tralee based on my experience ... it’s a real life Irish fairytale, and it’s never been illustrated before. The dream is to send the illustrations off to publishers after the festival and then I hope to be back here next year signing copies.” In the meantime, Sarah explained, she had just completed her “first paid gig”, completing an illustration commission for Lloyds Bank.
Sarah, who started at Airtricity the day after she completed the Rose Regional Finals in Portlaoise to win her place at the international festival, explained how she had her first photoshoot as Wicklow Rose at Airtricity!
“I started the new job on Tuesday just after the Regionals. Shortly after someone came up to me with a camera, and I thought ‘how did they know I’m the Wicklow Rose’ and then it occurred to me ... she wanted to take my photo for my staff ID.”
To watch Sarah’s live Rose of Tralee interview with Daithí O Sé click here.
To wish her a ‘bon voyage’ before it all began, Sarah’s Airtricity teammates presented her with a commemorative rose bush which is being planted at our new headquarters in Leopardstown, Co. Dublin. “The celebration in Airtricity was great. It really was such a lovely send off from everyone I work with,” an excited Sarah said.
The Rose of Tralee International Festival is one of Ireland's largest and longest running festivals, celebrating 54 years in 2013. The heart of the festival is the selection of the Rose of Tralee which brings young women of Irish descent from around the world to County Kerry, Ireland for a global celebration of Irish culture.