Gardaí investigate alleged racial abuse of Rose of Tralee winner Kirsten Mate Maher

Gardaí are investigating the alleged racial abuse of the Rose of Tralee winner.

Kirsten Mate Maher was in a Kilkenny takeaway in the early hours of Sunday morning when she was allegedly verbally attacked by two male customers. Maher, who was crowned the Rose of Tralee just last week, was with her boyfriend at the time. RTE reports that one man began racially abusing Maher while she was in the queue at the takeaway. Her boyfriend told the man to stop, before another man became involved in the attack. Gardaí were called to the scene shortly after. They took statements from Maher and her boyfriend, as well as from those who witnessed the verbal attack. It is not yet known if any arrests will be made. https://twitter.com/RTEOne/status/1032033232487739392 21-year-old Maher was crowned this year's Rose of Tralee at the Dome in Co Kerry early last week. Representing Waterford in the competition, she was praised for her attention to diversity in Ireland, having stated that she wanted to represent people of colour at the event. She told the Irish Mirror previously:

“For me, this year it’s not something I’m going to speak about because I feel like it’s something I shouldn’t have to speak about, but I suppose [I want to show] you can be a person of colour and be Irish, which is a massive thing. “I get it all the time, ‘Are you really Irish?’ and I am. That’s what I represent and it’s really important to me."