Sorcha Holmes is gearing up to represent Queensland at the Rose of Tralee Festival.
The Limerick girl headed home at the end of July for a month to take part in the August festival.
Sorcha, who works at The Irish Club in Brisbane, is the first non-Australian to have been chosen to represent Queensland.
She told Irish Queenslander: “I was one of eight girls at the selection ball so when my name was announced as the 2013 Queensland Rose, needless to say the shock took me over.
“Since being chosen, I’ve been on 4EB radio, had several interviews for the papers, both here and at home in Limerick, and I’ve been lucky enough to meet a few famous Irish people; Alan Quinlan, Brendan Grace and Tommy Bowe, and I also got the chance to go to the Lions’ first test match against the mighty Wallabies. What a fantastic game of rugby!”
Sorcha was delighted to get the chance to visit home.
“It’s such a treat to see my family and friends seeing as I had no plans to go home this year at all.
“Being the youngest of six children, I come from a huge family and I will be spending most of my time at home with them, before the Rose Tour kicks off on August 11 from Dublin.”
When asked how it feels to be representing Queensland at the festival, Sorcha said: “Words really cannot explain just how excited and lucky I feel. It will be the experience of a lifetime for me and I hope to do Irish Queenslanders proud in Tralee.”
The Rose of Tralee 2013 selection will take place at the Festival Dome on Monday, August 19 and Tuesday, August 20.
You can watch RTÉ’s TV broadcast of the festival on RTÉ Player at http://www.rte.ie/player/au/
Irish Queenslander 