The Rose of Tralee "lovely girls" jokes are tired and not all that funny.
That's the message from the Executive Chairman of the festival, outlined in a blistering open letter posted on the Rose of Tralee official website today.
In his lengthy note, O'Gara blasted the vocal critics of the organisation, suggesting many detractors were simply social media zealots and "contrary bystanders" who have never attended the festival and don't actually realise what goes on behind the scenes.
His letter comes as the newly-crowned Rose of Tralee, Maria Walsh, is set to appear on the Late Late Show tonight. Writing about her first television interview since the win, O'Gara said "Let’s see if you don’t fall under the spell."
The letter in full reads:
Open letter from Anthony O’Gara, Executive Chairman of the Rose of Tralee International Festival
It’s time to correct some misconceptions about the Rose of Tralee International Festival that are foisted on the unsuspecting public annually by some zealous, angry, if perhaps, misguided social commentators.
The Rose of Tralee is one of the most important threads to connect Irish people throughout the world with home and that is a fact for over 55 years.
We celebrate the Roses, their families and friends in their own home towns first and their arrival in Tralee is a continuation of this celebration.
Along the way, Tralee and many other towns and cities receive a boost to their tourism economy to the tune of €12 million. Numerous charities also benefit from being associated with the event and its people. Most important of all, thousands of people have fun, great friendships are formed and even one million people join the party atmosphere through the magic of live TV.
We’re not sensitive to criticism, but we are sensitive to boorish nonsense from uninformed opinion writers.
So, let’s be a little bit fair when commenting on the festival:
The Rose of Tralee is not all about: Paddy Whackery, Colleens on Parade, Stepford Wives tricked out as national stereotypes, flagrant misogyny or masquerading as Irish culture.
We don’t have a 1950s ethos – we do have a proud history and each year the Roses reflect women as they are today. Their ethos is ours.
We are not interested in stereotyping women. We celebrate exceptional women and accept them as the proud people they are, whatever that might be.
There is no Festival Committee and there has not been a Festival Committee since before 2004. The whole event is managed centrally by a very small management team of part-time people who are supported by a bevy of volunteers and 70 Rose Centres.
Most of the people who are involved in staging the Rose of Tralee International Festival at various levels, from planning to Judging, were born long after the break-up of the Beatles and when the Rolling Stones were past their best.
We choose Judges who want to find a relevant, independent, modern woman to represent the Irish Diaspora with pride and that is their only happy concern.
Please, get over the outdated ‘lovely girls’ joke. We have.
We don’t do more ‘mock Irishness’ or indulge in ‘plastic paddies’. The 200,000 people who engage with us annually and the TV viewers are real people.
To dismiss it, simply by forming opinions based on seeing elements of one of Ireland’s most popular TV shows each year, without attending the Festival is simply an excuse to trot out flagrant verbal rubbish for the sake of it.
This bandwagon has long since lost its wheels after being so laden-down with the prejudices of uninformed bolony of the faux intellectuals who trip over each other to impress their peers.
Roses and the rest of us live in the real world where bad things happen and people struggle. During the Festival they are celebrating and tend to show us their positive side but let’s not patronise them as ‘winsome colleens’. That might be seen as being plain bitchy.
The Roses are obviously pretty exceptional young women which is hardly surprising. They have been chosen from almost 1000 of their peers – all of whom are impressive. They are not professional entertainers. They are endearing people who entertain us and enthral us as best they can through a bit of harmless fun on stage. But most importantly, they reflect some pride in the communities that they represent. We are, in effect, honouring them and celebrating them as representatives of families and communities from our scattered generations.
By all means, be a contrary bystander. We all need some contra opinion to keep us on our toes, but remember this, a week at the Rose of Tralee Festival might just the thing to bring a little magic back into your life.
It’s by a country-mile the best festival in Ireland.
By the way, the Rose of Tralee, Maria Walsh, is on the Late Late Show tonight (Friday 5th September). Let’s see if you don’t fall under the spell.
