Jamie ‘rose’ to challenge

A Carrigaline resident is the talk of the town this week after being crowned the Rose of Tralee Escort of the Year.

Jamie Flannery, a primary school teacher at Gaelscoil Uí Léighin in Carrigaline, topped the poll among the roses and their troop of 32 escorts to claim the title.

Speaking after the win, Jamie said that he enjoyed every moment of the festival and that he felt it was a “brilliant opportunity for people to make lifelong friends”.

“The roses and the escorts have been fantastic throughout the whole week. The highlight for me was being involved in all the parades. It was so special for me to see the reaction of the crowd and all the local people,” said Jamie.

If that wasn’t good enough, one of the roses that Jamie was paired with, Sinéad Flanagan from Limerick, went on to win the overall contest.

Although a Limerick native, Sinéad has Cork ties with her mother hailing from Ballyhea, while she is based in Mallow in her job as a doctor.

Jamie, who recently turned 26, said that he enjoys bringing his personality to his classroom whilst teaching through Irish.

Originally from Dingle, Jamie studied in UCD and has spent time teaching with the charity UCD Volunteer Overseas in both Tanzania and Haiti.

When he’s not teaching, Jamie enjoys performing on stage and has been part of Siamsa Tíre, the National Folk Theatre of Ireland, since the age of six.

Close to 200 men aged between 21 and 30 applied to become escorts for this year’s Rose of Tralee Festival and following a detailed interview process, the final 32 were selected.

Jamie took home a tidy €1,000 prize and will return as an escort for the 2020 Rose of Tralee.

Escort applications for next year’s festival are now being accepted and full details are available on roseoftralee.com.