NOTTINGHAM Rose Claire Regan will grace the stage tonight when the second live selection takes place at the Festival Dome in Tralee, Co Kerry.
The 27-year-old is following in the footsteps of her mother and aunt, 1977 Nottingham Rose Anne Stanley and Maria Stanley who represented Midlands UK in Tralee in 1990, as she competes for the sought after crown.
Claire will be one of the remaining 14 Roses who will be interviewed tonight by host Dáithí O’Sé, who became one of the highlights of last night’s show when he closed the event by undertaking the ‘ice bucket challenge’ live on air.
He took part in the latest social media trend in order to raise awareness about Motor Neurone Disease, and even nominated former Rose of Tralee hosts Ryan Tubridy, Marty Whelan and Ray D'Arcy to do the same.
Fellow British Roses Mairéad Hussey (Manchester), Michelle Kelly (Scotland) and Aoife Broderick (Derby) were on hand to watch Dáithí get covered in icy water as they competed in the first live selection process.
Co Tyrone native, Michelle, became a part of festival history last night when she became the first woman representing Scotland to reach this stage of the competition.
She paid tribute to her current home, where she works as an auditor with PwC, by singing Caledonia.
Manchester Rose Mairéad demonstrated why she was previously awarded the title of All-Ireland tin whistle champion, performing to the hundreds of thousands of people that tuned in to the show.
Dáithí will take to the stage at 8 pm to interview the remaining 14 Roses. The show will conclude with the crowning of the 2014 Rose of Tralee at 11.15pm.
