Westmeath's Aisling wows at Tralee

Tubberclair's Aisling Baker opened proceedings at the International Rose of Tralee on Monday night when she was first on stage, wowing the crowd with her performance of Elton John's song 'Your Song'. The Westmeath Rose was a natural on stage, chatting away with compere Daithí O Sé about her ambitions in life, her family, college life and what she has been up to since being selected as a Rose earlier this year. Daithí welcomed Aisling to the stage by saying she must have brought half of Westmeath with her and commented that the crowd had some of the most professional banners he had seen. She went on to tell the crowd about what exactly the Roses had been up to since the festival began last week, explaining that they had kicked off the Rose tour in Dublin before travelling to Ballinasloe, Limerick and Tralee, staying in Carlton hotels along the way. Aisling said she hadn't realised there would be a parade until she got to Tralee and said this was brilliant. She told the crowd she had just completed college in Limerick and said: "It's a fantastic city, there's a great student life. I was born in Limerick and lived there for five years." Now that she has completed college Aisling told Daithí that the plan is to go to Dublin without a job and hopefully get one when she gets there. Aisling's supporters at the Dome included her mum Michelle, dad Noel, siblings Seán, Aoife and Eimear, her boyfriend Mark and many friends, including some friends from Mary Immaculate College in Limerick who cheered when the college and the city was mentioned. Speaking about what she has been doing since becoming Westmeath Rose, Aisling explained that for the past few months she has been working with Mental Health Ireland and going to schools as an ambassador to speak to students about mental health. She said this is hugely important and said it's good to start out in primary schools and tell students that it's okay to have different feelings and to give them an outlet to talk about them. Aisling concluded her time on stage by singing 'Your Song'. Before she left the stage the 21-year-old blew a kiss to her supporters in the crowd and thanked Daithí O Sé. Speaking to the Westmeath Independent yesterday, Aisling said she was pleased with her peformance and said she thought her personality had come through, which was what she had wanted. She said the week-long festival had been a rollercoaster and the Roses were a bit emotional yesterday as it was the last day. Aisling thanked all her supporters in Tubberclair, Glasson and Athlone and said she had been blessed with the support she had received from the local community. She said it was humbling and lovely to see her family and friends in the crowd in The Dome.