Baylough beauty vies for Miss Ireland crown

A 18-year-old local girl is flying the flag for Athlone this weekend and is hoping to bring the Miss Ireland crown back to the town for the first time at the competition finals in Dublin. Hannah Duignan from Baylough, the current Miss Westmeath, will take her place alongside 31 other contestants in the Miss Ireland Finale 2009 and Ball in the Royal Marine Hotel in Dun Laoghaire on Saturday evening, a prospect she told the Westmeath Independent she is really looking forward to, even though there will be a few nerves. It will be quite a week for the bubbly beauty who will strut her stuff in the evening wear and swimsuit sections at the pageant finals and then, on Monday next, will begin her studies at St Pat's Drumcondra to become a primary school teacher. Although, she joked if she won the Miss Ireland title, she might just have defer her place till next year! Full of praise for the experience so far, Hannah said her involvement came about by pure chance and she would recommend it to anyone. "I saw an ad on the internet, I actually thought I was too late to enter but she told me to come over. I entered in Mojos nightclub in Mullingar and had an interview along with twelve other girls. Later I got a text to say I'd won," the Baylough girl, who also works part-time in Londis, Monksland, enthused. "It's a great opportunity for anyone to get their name out there. I'd love to model part-time. A lot of the girls are actually with agencies so they have a lot more experience than me but it's something I'd love to get in to," Hannah pointed out, adding that the eventual winner of Miss Ireland will travel to South Africa to represent the country in December, as well receiving some other great prizes. Friends and family from Athlone are due to travel to the capital to support Hannah in her quest to become Miss Ireland at the weekend, and none will be prouder than her parents Paschal and Barbara Duignan. Indeed, her mother actually made the dress she will wear on the night, surely a unique boast at the competition. So what can she tell us about it? "Well it's an evening dress, its got lots of sequins. My mother made it. It was actually my Debs dress so it's great to get another wear out of it," she laughed. "I'm a bit nervous but I'm really looking forward to it. I've met some of the girls at this stage and they're all really nice." Although she modestly said that the standard is very high in Miss Ireland this year, she'd love to win the overall title for the whole county. "I'd love to represent Westmeath. It would be absolutely great to win but the competition is tough. Everyone is saying the standard is very high this year. It would be fantastic," she concluded, thanking sponsors Mojos in Mullingar for all their help in the run-up to the competition. The favourite for the title according to bookies Paddy Power is Miss University Terri McEvoy from Dublin with odds of just 7/2. Hannah Duignan is currently placed at 20/1 to be crowned Miss Ireland 2009.