Athlone Rose bids for Tralee glory for Roscommon

Athlone's Deirdre Lenehan has certainly started off her reign as Roscommon Rose in style this week, meeting Taoiseach Brian Cowen at a special dinner hosted in her honour by Minister of Housing Michael Finneran in Leinster House and attended by a wide circle of family and friends from the town. Now, her sights are firmly set on the Regional Finals of the Rose of Tralee in Portlaoise over the weekend of June 5 and 6 next after a busy few weeks of engagements, including The Roscommon Lamb Festival since she claimed the title last month. Friday April, 23 will certainly go down as one of the most memorable days for the 27-year-old who graduated that morning and was crowned Roscommon Rose 2010 later that night. The pharmacist, who hails from the Roscommon Road, Athlone in Roscommon beat off competition from 13 other contestants to land the prestigious title after a gala banquet in the plush confines of Kilronan Castle, near Ballyfarnon in the North of the county. Earlier that day she graduated from Trinity College with a masters degree in pharmacy and after a quick change, her father drove her to Kilronan for the interviews prior to the glittering banquet that night where she represented her employers, The Mater Hospital in Dublin. A former pupil of Summerhill College, Deirdre is the daughter of Brian and the late Miriam Lenehan. The Roscommon girl was escorted on the night by her boyfriend Tony Diskin, who is also from the wider Athlone area. She will now go to compete in the Regional Finals in Portlaoise on the June bank holiday weekend for the right to compete in the Rose of Tralee Festival proper later this Summer.